Southport Labour has called upon the local hospital trust to rethink a decision to reintroduce parking charges at their sites in the town and Ormskirk.

The charges will come back into force from December 1st it's been announced by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, after spending £325,000 on a high-tech automatic number plate recognition camera parking system in the summer.

A small number of groups such as relatives of patients at end of life and blue badge holders will be exempt from the charges, though the latter will first have to validate their badge with the hospital trust.

The fees were suspended last March during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic but the move to bring them back appears "premature" and should be delayed, a Southport Labour spokesperson explained:

"Parking charges at hospitals are already highly contentious, this though just seems a very inappropriate time for the local hospital trust to reintroduce them."

"The charges were halted when the pandemic struck and yet are now being reintroduced when it is still very much with us, so this seems rather premature."

"We will still be in the high alert category locally when this latest lockdown ends and we haven't even got through the winter yet with the increased risk that poses."

"After a decade of NHS underfunding, we understand the financial pressure the trust feels but ask it to rethink this decision and postpone reintroducing charges, at least until the current crisis has significantly eased."

I thought Labour had given up, you can only be wrong and irrelevant for so long.

Originally Posted by local

I thought Labour had given up, you can only be wrong and irrelevant for so long.

WRONG.
Have you taken a look at boris’s approval ratings recently?
Might want a peek at this too. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-plummets.html

All Parking fees charged within hospital grounds are disgusting - people do not attend Hospital for their entertainment!

Originally Posted by said

All Parking fees charged within hospital grounds are disgusting - people do not attend Hospital for their entertainment!

While I agree with your sentiments, the parking is sub contracted out. The money for the contract is paid into the Hospital Trust and is included in their budget.

Originally Posted by donkey22

WRONG.
Have you taken a look at boris’s approval ratings recently?
Might want a peek at this too. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-plummets.html

The approval ratings that matter gave Boris 365 MPs. Labour finished on 203, the SNP 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and the DUP eight.


That's Labour on 203 seats Boris got 365 seats.

So that's a very irrelevant Labour Party nationally and laughably in Southport Labours latest no hoper was beaten by Asda Man.

That is bad he's useless.

Originally Posted by local

The approval ratings that matter gave Boris 365 MPs. Labour finished on 203, the SNP 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and the DUP eight.


That's Labour on 203 seats Boris got 365 seats.

So that's a very irrelevant Labour Party nationally and laughably in Southport Labours latest no hoper was beaten by Asda Man.

That is bad he's useless.

Did you not look at the recent opinion poll in that link? Would seem the Conservatives are even less relevant than Labour as things currently stand nationally.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Did you not look at the recent opinion poll in that link? Would seem the Conservatives are even less relevant than Labour as things currently stand nationally.

You might as well give a link to a unicorn league or fantasy football tables that's why I gave you;


The approval ratings that matter gave Boris 365 MPs. Labour finished on 203, the SNP 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and the DUP eight.



Keep it for a few years.

Originally Posted by local

You might as well give a link to a unicorn league or fantasy football tables that's why I gave you;


The approval ratings that matter gave Boris 365 MPs. Labour finished on 203, the SNP 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and the DUP eight.



Keep it for a few years.

They’re out of date. I gave you the most up to date ones I could find, showing boris’s somewhat amusing downward spiral.

Last time a family member was in, I went on the bike - parked it right by front entrance and paid nothing......Have occasionally gone in motor vehicle, parked some streets away, walked in - and paid nothing!

Imo, provided you can walk several hundred yards, it's that easy to keep hold of your cash.

Very difficult subject, should there or shouldn't there be parking charges?

One scenario to think about, and this was suggested to me by a nurse who works at a different hospital.

The car park needs to be resurfaced, how is it paid for?

1. charges for parking goes into the hospitals budget therefore the cost is taken from the fees charged.
2. parking is free, no income generated so the cost is taken from the hospital budget.

Should blue badge holders be exempt?

I saw a news article about this subject and the chief executive of the hospital showed the news crew around the car park, blue badge bays had Range Rovers, BMW's & Mercedes parked in them, his opinion if you can afford high end cars you can afford to pay for parking.

As for Southport hospital, Tesco has 3 hours free parking for those who are able to walk a few hundred yards.

Originally Posted by donkey22

They’re out of date. I gave you the most up to date ones I could find, showing boris’s somewhat amusing downward spiral.

You console yourself with Poll ratings if it works for you, but Boris is the Prime Minister with the votes that matter and the power that comes with it.

You can give me next week's if you like but it won't make any difference.

Originally Posted by local

You console yourself with Poll ratings if it works for you, but Boris is the Prime Minister with the votes that matter and the power that comes with it.

You can give me next week's if you like but it won't make any difference.

Fine by me, you carry on kidding yourself with the pre-Covid shambolic s!*t show figures.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Fine by me, you carry on kidding yourself with the pre-Covid shambolic s!*t show figures.

I'm not kidding anyone Boris got the gig,

Jeremy and many of his acolytes got the boot
facts are facts.

Come back in a few years you might then be relevant until then you might as well look at the horoscopes or the tea-leaves.

Labour are as usual out of office and out of power with their out of touch supporters.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Fine by me, you carry on kidding yourself with the pre-Covid shambolic s!*t show figures.

Current poll ratings are irrelevant. It's another 4 years before the next General Election and sitting Governments are very rarely ahead in the polls anyway, even at the best of times.

Without substantial support from north of the border Labour are destined to years in opposition and with the SNP flying high that situation isn't going to change any time soon. Scotland might have f##k#d off to join the EU by the time of the next Election anyway....with any luck.