Does free parking mean fair parking?
At the start of the year, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that thousands of NHS patients and visitors in England will soon be able to access free hospital car parking under a new DHSC approach.
From April, all 206 hospital trusts in England will be expected to provide free car parking to disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts.
The issue of free parking has been a constant one for decades, with NHS trusts in England responsible for making their own car parking arrangements, including setting any charges. But it is by no means the only issue facing the industry.
Our Expert Panel, comprising of Dave Smith, Stewart Clure, Grahame Rose and Simon Jarvis, discuss the Queen’s Speech announcement and the other problems with hospital parking in our piece on page 24. Additionally, Kelvin Reynolds writes on page 31 about why fair for all, but not free for all, may be the best solution to hospital parking.
Elsewhere, Cancer Research UK has warned that the 2030 smoke-free target is set to be missed by at least seven years. Surely Hancock must make changes to public health funding before ambitious targets become completely unachievable.
Michael Lyons, editor
