Why are parking fees TRIPLING for hospital staff after Johnson promised to end them for everyone?
The price of working for the NHS is astronomical as it is – and now it seems it is rising again, in spite of a promise by prime muppet Boris Johnson.
The issue here is car parking. Boris promised to eliminate parking fees for everybody attending hospital – which includes staff.
But now we have reports that the price of staff parking at King’s College Hospital in London is tripling.
New permits will cost doctors and nurses at the trust up to £1,440, with the changes reportedly taking effect from the beginning of December.
Let’s remind ourselves of Johnson’s promise:
Boris Johnson told Parliament BEFORE the pandemic he had “ensured FREE hospital parking for EVERYONE”👇
Today we hear shocking stories NHS staff could face disgusting 200% hikes in hospital parking costs
Journalists must hold the PM to account pic.twitter.com/I9JG8ENiCy
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) November 15, 2020
It seems the government pledged in their December 2019 election manifesto to provide free parking for some patients and staff on their night shifts.
In the email from the Kings College Trust to staff, the hospital’s management claim the move has prompted privately run car parking companies to pass on the cost to daytime NHS workers.
This prompts the obvious question: why are hospital car parks run for profit by private companies in the first place? Our health care is supposed to be free at the point of use so is our useless Tory government getting around that by charging us all to get there?
The question is rhetorical; the short answer is yes:
They have given it away, and the NHS buildings too, to a private company.
It hasn't gone public yet, and it's staying low profile, but it's called NHS Property Services.https://t.co/k9yObSSRyV
— Eddy Ventolera (@atm0spheric) November 16, 2020
And it turns out Johnson was lying to Parliament when he made that promise:
In an exchange in the House of Commons in July, Labour leader Keir Starmer urged the prime minister to keep free parking – but Johnson refused to rule out bringing charges back in for hospital staff.
He told Starmer: “May I suggest he takes his latest bandwagon and parks it somewhere else.”
Johnson added: “The hospital car parks are free for NHS staff during the pandemic, and we are going to get on with our manifesto commitment to make them free for patients who need them as well.”
Clearly the prime muppet hasn’t thought this through. With hospital car park firms passing their losses from free parking on to those who still have to pay, it will soon cost staff too much to work there.
Richard Burgon, former shadow justice secretary when Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour Party, has called on the Tory government to put a stop to the price rise:
NHS staff shouldn't be charged for parking at work.
That many doctors and nurses now face a 200% increase is a disgrace.
We owe our fantastic NHS staff so much. The Government must step in and guarantee free hospital parking. pic.twitter.com/YZeqEDsgw0
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) November 14, 2020
It seems unlikely Johnson will take any notice.
Public opposition to hospital car parking charges is widespread:
karma will catch up with them one day very soon. The sooner the better, it cant come quick enough.
— Maureen plant (@PlantMaureen) November 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/donnamartin872/status/1327744104428658690
This is so disgusting, I really don't know how they sleep at Night, they are a disgrace. The sooner these Tories have gone the better, that's if we can ever get shut of them.
— Maureen plant (@PlantMaureen) November 14, 2020
Imagine where we will be if the NHS staff don't go to work.
Hospital administration needs to stop this madness and provide free parking to staff. Better still remove all these useless managers and replace them with actual medical staff.— Clapping monkey 🦧🟨🟥 (@Gaziskwakers) November 15, 2020
Ow can't they pay for parking in claps? Maybe that 3k pay rise should of gone to the NHS staff working their socks off instead of them loafing around at the commons bar
— Andy (@Andrew_craig82) November 15, 2020
The subject was buried over the weekend, beneath the Downing Street soap opera about Dominic Cummings quitting and Boris Johnson self-isolating.
But honestly, who cares about those things? They don’t affect us. Cummings will be replaced by somebody just as bad at the job and Johnson can use Zoom.
But if our doctors and nurses can’t afford to work at a hospital because some greedy private car parking firm wants to keep its profit margins high during a medical emergency, then we’re all in trouble.
Source: Labour MP calls on government to intervene over ‘disgusting’ 200% rise in parking fees for NHS staff
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Has above donnaseatamask has put up the owners of slot of these carparks public eye didn’t crapita own it but because of the publicity it sold it on hmm Boris has we now fails to bring his promises to fruition they just wither on the vine