Earlier this year, under the previous Government, the Department of Health issued a consultation looking into who should be exempt from hospital car parking charges in England. After months of everything being up in the air following the General Election, the new government has told us they're going to respond to this consultation in September.
Andrew Lansley, the new Secretary of State for Health, doesn't want to tell hospitals how to run their car parks. Answering questions from Parliamentary friends of Macmillan, Health Ministers have warned us that "public finances mean it won't be possible to abolish parking fees altogether."
While some hospitals have excellent car parking policies we know the majority do not. We also know that, despite the state of public finances, some hospitals are still deciding to make parking free. For example, General Trafford Hospital in Manchester announced at the start of July that it was making parking free for all patients. This shows it can be done.
We're continuing to campaign on this issue to try to make sure the consultation response brings positive news for people with cancer. We've also joined forces with Good Housekeeping magazine to raise the profile of the campaign...more on that next week.
We've got a new action and we need your help. This is your chance to write to your local MP and push for change. With this Government saying decisions will remain at a local level this is more important than ever. We'd also love to hear your views and stories - it helps us to get a better picture of the situation around England as we continue to campaign.
Let's give hospital parking charges the boot - once and for all!
