Parking charge under attack

Northland District Health Board is one of only seven district health boards around the country to introduce paid parking at its hospitals. Paid parking came to Whangarei Hospital in April. Photo / File

Northland District Health Board is one of only seven district health boards around the country to impose paid parking at hospitals, with a lobby group saying it is affecting some of the poorest and most vulnerable patients in the country and should be abolished.

Since controversially introducing paid parking at Whangarei Hospital in April, NDHB has collected $17,494 in parking fees out of more than $44 million collected from hospital car parking nationally in three years, research by the New Zealand Taxpayers Union reveals. The research shows that, of the 20 DHBs, seven - Northland, Hutt Valley, Mid-Central, Capital & Coast, Auckland, Waitemata and Waikato - charge patients for parking at one or more of their hospitals.

NDHB has no plans to abolish the charges but is not looking at introducing them at its other hospitals, in Dargaville, Kawakawa and Kaitaia.

Taxpayers Union executive director Jordan Williams said charging was wrong as taxpayers had already paid for the construction of the hospital and the carpark and it was a surprise to find charges introduced in a region like Northland. "Why must they pay twice when they are unfortunate enough to have to make use of the facilities?

"Talk about kicking someone when they are down," Mr Williams said.

"Parking taxes at hospitals punish those who are ill and may well be on benefits.

"The last thing that a patient should have to worry about if they are attending for treatment is whether there is going to be a penalty notice waiting for them when they return to their vehicle.

"Often patients won't know how long their treatment will last and therefore how much to put in the meter."

He said modest charges might make sense in large city hospitals, where good public transport was available. "But we think for places like Northland, where patients often travel considerable distances, hospital parking fees are a nasty revenue gathering tool, which should be abolished.

"When New Zealanders are ill or suffering from a family emergency, the last thing they should have to worry about is whether or not they have enough spare change for the DHB's carpark," Mr Williams said.

NDHB chief finance officer Meng Cheong said the DHB recognised that socioeconomic factors affected many people in our community and offered staff who earned $18 or less an hour the opportunity to apply for an exemption.

Exemptions are also granted for chaplains, renal patients who drive themselves to their appointments, blood donors, people having chemotherapy, emergency services vehicles, courier and delivery vehicles, rural health shuttles, bicycles and motorcycles, and registered volunteers.

Mr Cheong said exemptions might also be granted for parents of seriously ill children, while immediate family of patients staying more than three weeks would be charged one week's parking.

Charges apply from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.