Blue Badges for parking- your views

Hi I have a blue badge (as am Terminally ill) and this has been extremely helpful for me - particularly as this means I do not have to pay to park at my hospital (expensive when having chemo all day) and the bays are close to the entrance meaning I walk less (get breathless walking the long corridors). I do find though it is not always possible to park in a disabled bay at hospital as there arent many and there is high demand for the ones they have. My badge has made shopping and everyday life much easier - I think I would have benefitted from a blue badge during my chemotherapy and radiotherapy on my first diagnosis on 2003 - when I would not have qualified for one but I think the practicalities of a (e.g.) temporary blue badge would be hard to regulate and not everyone would need one. Interesting debate! Jools

I would have found a temporary blue badge useful whilst undergoing chemo. One of the side effects was reaction to cold which would set my hands and feet tingling and there was a risk of my throat going into a spasm. Walking a long way to the car was uncomfortable. To have been able to park near to the Cancer Centre would have been much better.

Angela

this is a subject close to my heart, as i have a sister who is thalidomie and is in a wheelchair... i`ve spent years watching people who should not park in disabled spaces do so.... i like jools am terminal. ... but still (thank goodness) perfectly able bodied,and alough i DO qualify for a blue badge i refuse to get one because i am quite able to jump out of my car and "sprint" into the shops... infact i look exactly the type of person i would have told off for "pinching" a space ...whilst my sister had to park halfway across the carpark.... its a hard one to call, it is so easily abused, i know people like me who are perfectly capable of walking, who use the blue badges, which makes it harder for those who need them to get the limited spaces.... in northern ireland cancer patients DO get free parking whilst having treatment, i think it should be right across the u.k, and i think the cancer units should have sectioned off car parking places with parking permits... we get a parking ticket, which we swipe going into and out of the car park.

liz x

Good topic, in the early days post surgery and when chemo started to put it bluntly I was goosed and could not manage to walk far at all and it was a struggle to walk any where. I was encouraged to apply by the specialist nurse but did not as I was sure I was not as bad as I was. It would have been beneficial certainly for about a 6 to 9 months to have had a badge to help on those occasions when it was a challenge. Something worth pushing for on a temporary basis. Plus I don't think we as a group of patients would abuse a short term arrangement as I know where Liz is coming from and its not something to abuse.

john

good topic!

this may sound harsh but i don't think cancer should be a special case but rather anyone receiving treatment that leaves them temporiraly disabled should apply. the disabled places are limted so lets leave them for those that need them.