Hospital governor quits over "disgraceful" parking charge rises

5:05pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News

Bill Etheridge Bill Etheridge

A DUDLEY Group governor has quit his role in protest over “disgraceful” planned parking charge hikes at borough hospitals as part of a bid to save £15million.

Car parking charges at Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital, and the The Guest and Corbett Outpatient Centres, are set to rocket up by as much as 58 per cent as a result of efficiency savings, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust bosses have revealed.

The proposed new charges will mean visitors and patients will have to fork out £2 to park for up to an hour (up from £1.30), £3 for up to one-and-a-half hours (previously £1.90), £4 for one-and-a-half hours to three hours (up from £3.20) and £5.50 for all day (up from £5.40).

A free 30-minute drop-off window is also being scrapped and replaced with a £1 charge. Instead motorists will have just ten-minutes of free parking/waiting time.

Bill Etheridge, who was an elected governor for Dudley North, has branded the charges “totally unacceptable” and has resigned from his post in protest at the move which will hit patients and their relatives hard.

He said: “This is a tax on the sick and their families at a time when people in Dudley are struggling to make ends meet.

“As a governor I was not given an opportunity to have any input into these decisions.

“I feel that remaining in my post would be seen as giving support to measures I totally disagree with.”

Mr Etheridge, chairman of Dudley and Halesowen UKIP, also went on to say he tried his best to represent borough residents but the role of hospital governor had “no real power or authority attached to it”.

The charges, due to come into force from April 1, are part of a package of measures drawn up by hospital bosses to save £15million in the next financial year (2013-14).

Paula Clark, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We do not take decisions to increase charges to patients lightly and the new charges bring the cost of our parking in line with many other Trusts locally.

“After negotiations with our PFI partners, who provide and manage car parking at our three hospital sites, we will share the benefit from the increases directly.

“The Trust will receive more than £300,000 per year which we will use to help with the provision our clinical services.

“We hope our patients and visitors will understand the financial pressures The Dudley Group is under, as all trusts are nationally, and agree it is preferable to make changes to car parking rather than reducing the services we offer our patients.”

Comments(6)

Dudley Bloke says...
6:08pm Fri 1 Mar 13

Top marks for Mr Etheridge, this is a DISGRACE...the sooner that they take the "Private" out of PFI the better, they could probably save £ thousands by getting rid of the pen pushers.

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Sam Vimes says...
7:13pm Fri 1 Mar 13

Much like a government. When things get a bit tight wallop the hapless motorist with a tax increase. After all they're only at the hospital to occupy space aren't they.

It's an interesting notion that fleecing the public for more money counts as a cost saving measure in lieu of actually identifying real cost saving and efficiencies.

I wonder how many of these pointless managers would need to be fired to actually save £300k? Probably, not many.


Under the veneer of outrage I suspect the fact that the governor role "has no real power or authority" is a major factor for Mr Etheridge's exit.

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The Villan says...
7:57pm Fri 1 Mar 13

I wouldn't mind so much if spaces were available on the car park when you visit. The size of the car park in relation to RHH is very poor.

However, when all is said and done, the patients are an easy target. I would agree with Sam and suggest that by getting rid of the top heavy departmental managers, the required savings could be easily achieved.

The CE should be embarrassed she is hitting the vulnerable and sick.

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ozpat says...
10:41pm Fri 1 Mar 13

This what happens when PFI gets involved with public sector services. The powers that be were told this years ago before the closure of surrounding hospitals and the expansion of "Rusty Balls". I once had to park in the public car park as the staff one was full and was told I had to pay to leave at the end of the day, needless to say that I did not pay as I kicked one hell of a stink up with senior management! I do feel the public are being held hostage over the parking cost issues and my fear is that people who need treatment will not attend due to the additional cost implications. If only everyone could boycott the use of the parking facilities and give these greedy dogs a taste of their own medicine!

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bill etheridge says...
9:54am Sat 2 Mar 13

Mr Vimes. I have been in post for approximately 3 years so the lack of authority involved in being a hospital governor would have caused me to quite earlier if that was the reason.

This is purely in protest about the car park prices hike a matter I was not prepared to go along with

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viktoria says...
10:29pm Mon 4 Mar 13

It's a good point to raise about the parking Mr. Etheridge. But could you not have stayed to find out the result of the investigation into abnormally high death rates at Russells Hall? Could you not have tried to find out why bedsores rates, or C Difficile infections, are so high at Russells Hall hospital?

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