Bedford Driving Lessons

A revamp of hospital car parking is needed, consumer watchdog Which? says after looking into the best and worst practices in England. The group found a wide variation in the frequency with which patients were clamped and fined for breaching rules. Using data from 126 Freedom Of Information requests, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust came top for clamping. Over a year the hospital clamped 1,671 cars and made nearly £2m profit. Leeds General Infirmary issued the most parking tickets – over 10,000, generating £142,000 profit. The Royal Derby was the target of the most criticism – it received 82 complaints in 2008-09. According to Which?, 70% of people have experienced problems with an NHS hospital car park and for nearly half, parking made what can be a very stressful time even worse. It is calling on NHS hospitals to improve car parking services by banning clamping and towing. It also wants “fairer” charging systems such as allowing patients to pay on departure rather than arrival, or reimbursing patients for additional parking fees when appointments are delayed. More