Letter: Why parking cash was refused
Thursday 25th February 2010, 8:00AM GMT.
Letter: In reply to the letter from Margaret Hammond on February 12: Stressful time trying to park at hospital.
The person she referred to as “a small, elderly male assistant” was me.
Yes, I did refuse change for the car park. We have to enforce this due to the bank charges levied on us.
We are charged every time we go to the bank for change and this then means less profit and therefore less vital equipment for the hospital.
May I respectfully remind the lady that appointment letters state that £2 is required for parking.
The car park is nothing to do with the hospital but an independent organisation and although we have tried to get a change machine installed by the hospital, to date no such machine is in place.
I would also like to point out that I am chairman of the Friends of the PRH and together with the committee and our volunteers, we work hard to raise money, but occasionally have to make a stand against certain criteria.
Many customers to our shop are very generous and courteous, but we do get some that have an attitude problem, we also have to put up with theft.
It is sad when the work we do is misinterpreted but we go on, because of the satisfaction the handing over of equipment gives us, which totals more than £2m.
Alan Millward
Chairman
Friends of the
Princess Royal Hospital
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i note that you fail to apologise (or indeed deny) your abrupt attitude. What business is it of yours anyway why customers need change? and what criteria are you applying to detemine how much a customer needs to spend in roder for you to accept a £10 note. you knew nothing of this lady’s state of mind or situation when you refused to help her. Take a long hard look before you claim the moral high ground sir.
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Stephen76
I disagree with you, the attendants are not equipped to carry so much change, she should have prepared herself as it stated on the letter it would be a £2 charge. I have no sympathy with her.
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What happens to people who dont have a letter, those who are there to visit, like I was when I had to rush there to visit my dieing father, or those who are there at A&E, we dont all have an appointment letter. The hospital should have somewhere where you can get change ie the shop. But then the little jobsworth would have to be helpful.
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First of all fair play to you for A.M. for coming back on the subject.
But at the end of the day any employee, contractor, or volunteer who works at the PRH is the public face of the company. You wouldn’t go into Top-shop and accept anything other than courtesy from the staff there. The same should be expected at the PRH.
Remember the PRH and the NHS are always under public scrutiny so be it good news or bad news everyone at PRH gets tarred with the same brush. That’s life.
Yes the lady in question should have remembered to take her £2 but she’s human, she forgot. But your dealing of the situation was off, you messed up there. It’s OK you’re human too.
but re the bank change levy, why not ask* for a donation if people want change without buying from the shop? Like 20p or something?
* and by ask I mean demand, nicely
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While I have some sympathy for the lady concerned it is the hospital or the parking booths who should provide the change .As was mentioned visitors do not have a letter saying bring £2 for parking .However I do object to anyone calling Alan Millward a jobsworth .Alan is volunteer Chairman of the Friends of the Princess Royal Hospital .Have you all any idea of the time these people put into things like this, they are not paid it is volunteer work,they even have to pay the hospital rent for the cafe space ,yet are raising thousands of pounds for all sorts of equipment at the hospital and benefits for the patients .Hospitals could not run if it wasn’t for people like Alan who give their free time up .I know a lot of the volunteers at the hospital and all of them deserve medals for what they do .I know Alan, he is a nice man and very sincere .To be slagged of as a jobsworth is really unjust .I also see that it is easy to do this when you are anonymous At least I put my name to what I write
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DL Barnett
Just because you’re on a committee,have a title and raise money for good causes don’t entitle you to be rude to people. By catapulting this issue on to the front page of the Star website with his behaviour, Mr Millward has actually created a storm in a teacup which can only harm the reputation of the organisations he works so hard for. Seems like a case of cutting off his nose to spite his face!
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Although I do sympathise with the situation at the shop with them being charged by the bank for change I do not see why anyone trying to buy something from the shop should have to account for what they do with their change?
It does not give anyone the right to be offensive, nor does the shop or it’s staff have the right to dictate what you buy or with what amount of legal tender could be assumed to be the ‘acceptable amount given’ to pay for these purchases.
I personally will never buy anything from this shop in future, bullying attitudes do not impress me either!
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I keep asking the same question so here we go again.
WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PARK?
You as tax payers paid for the car park so why?
I live in Spain and I don’t have to pay to visit my Hospital or my shopping centre or my supermarket.
It is just yet another TAX and you let them get away with it so I suppose you deserve it !
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I totally agree with you D.L. Barnett. Alan and all of the volunteers who work in the shop and other areas of the hospital work hard to provide a service to people (and I use that word loosely!!) like those above. Those who manage the car park are independent of the hospital so if you have issues to do with not being able to get change – take it up with them!
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He’s right in that some banks do charge for issuing or banking change – maybe we should be blaming the fat cat bankers for screwing people over again particularly since 6 RBS personnel have now just become millionaires by virtue of the bonuses they’ve just been awarded!
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Alan is not a “Jobsworth” he is volunteer, that means he and people like him give up their own time without pay to provide a service for other. If people insult and abuse volunteers like Alan, many of whom are well past the retirement age then there will be no shop or cafe for patients benefit. As Alan points out the shop is a charity which receives no favours from banks or it seems some members of the general public.
I know what a great service the volunteers give because I was one myself until work commtments prevented me from continuing.
The car park is a commercial concern who are only interested in making a profit. If you don’t have a ticket they fine you thus ensuring more profit so why would they be helpful and provide change?
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wherever you go carry some change it is normal
now to have to pay to park everywere simples
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Alan Millward, I seek, is a volunteer. How many others in the Community would give up their time volunarily?
If the patient’s account of the ‘interaction’ is accurate, then the Alan Millward’s response was perhaps a little ‘abrupt’, but that’s all the issue comes to.
My advice for the patient is always to carry change in your car.
Just go ahead and buy something else in addition to the newspaper in such cicumstances, you’ll eat/drink/read it at some stage anyway and there is your problem solved.
Hospitals have far more to think about than people arriving with no change.
I visit hospitals every week, both for work and for my long-term medical condition, but just ensure I have change before I go, assuming the ticket machine will not give change.
Finally, at RSH, I know that you can pay by card at the machine, so you don’t actually need money.
I don’t advocate free parking for all, as some do. Car parks, like hospitals have to be maintained and staffed. However, those with long-term medical conditions through no fault of their own (ie not smokers/drinkers), using hospitals week in week out should be exempt from such charges, but that’s another matter.
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If my memory serves me correctly I think there is a notice up in the cafe about giving change ,I will check when I go tomorrow .I was not there so I cannot swear to what was said by either person .BUT if people like Alan stop their volunteer work and fund raising you will be paying over £5 for car parking ,Is that what you want? .No one wants car parking charges it is a tax on the sick but Phil Homer was responsible for these when he was in charge and he was prepared for a private company to make money out of it .They could do it another way but probably have a hard to break contract.Someway must be found . Perhaps loss of managers but not frontline staff might go a long way ,look up the figures for extra managers within the NHS in the last dozen years or so .
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Sounds like somebody needs to do some number crunching – I bet the profits off of the sales of people buying the odd chocolate bar or item from the shop more than outweigh the additional bank charges from extra change….or – here’s a novel idea, why not levy a charge for change within the shop – so 20p or 50p every time somebody breaks a tenner kind of thing – then this extra money can pay for the extra bank charges or hey – be extra profit or even better, donate to the Friends of the PRH…. seems like too many people are saying this isn’t their problem to solve instead of doing what they can to help a fellow human being at what must be a stressful time, after all they are visiting a hospital.
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I have checked on my visit to the hospital today ,there is a large notice by the cafe till that states ,minimum 50 pence purchase with a ten pound note ,minimum purchase £1 with a twenty pound note . I also spoke to Alan and another person their account is slightly different .I make no comment on this .Alan also tells me he has just replaced £500 s worth of crockery through theft and breakages . He also told me about a lady who went for a cup of coffee to drink outside .The policy is no crockery outside but they supply a plastic container at 5 pence ,the lady and I use that term loosely finished her drink and then took the used cup back for a refund .These volunteers are wonderful people salt of the earth .I am sure the revenue from people will not go down at the cafe in fact I think it will increase .
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I do have an issue when minor personal gripes are dealt with in the public arena unnecessarily. I am a tremendous fan of Leagues of Friends which do fantastic voluntary work. If Mr Millward was abrupt or even rude the lady should have contacted him in person not written to a letters page. A man dedicated to doing valuable work has been compelled to defend himself publicly and the role of the League of Friends has been lost in these exchanges.
As for hospital parking it is managed by private companies. They should provide the change facilities in recognition of the fact that those attending hospitals – as patients or visitors – are by and large preoccupied with more important things than the contents of their pockets, wallets or purses.
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