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Chamber

Plenary, 14 Nov 2007

14 Nov 2007 · S3 · Plenary

Item of business

Stobhill Hospital <br />(Parking Charges)

Craigie, Cathie Lab Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Watch on SPTV

Like other members, I congratulate Paul Martin on bringing his motion to the Parliament for debate. I acknowledge the work that he has done over the years to support the staff and users of Stobhill hospital. One of my colleagues says that we should put up a plaque stating that Paul Martin was born at the hospital.

Presiding Officer, you pointed out that the debate is about parking at Stobhill. People might be wondering why I am speaking in the debate, but Stobhill hospital does not provide health services only to the people of Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Indeed, it is not just for the people of Springburn, as others have pointed out. The hospital draws patients and staff from all areas of central Scotland, including my constituency of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. We in Kilsyth, in particular, regard Stobhill as our local hospital and it is the hospital of first choice for many of my constituents. The vast majority of people who live in Kilsyth use Stobhill and other services in Glasgow rather than services that are provided by Lanarkshire NHS Board, and a significant number of people in Cumbernauld are in the same position.

People in my constituency use Stobhill even though public transport links to the hospital are difficult. People who live in Kilsyth have to take at least two buses and then have a lengthy walk up the avenue. People who live in Cumbernauld have to take three buses. However, people choose to do that because of the facilities at Stobhill and the services that they can expect when they go there. People increasingly want to use the facility because of the significant investment of more than £80 million that has been ploughed into the hospital in the past few years.

Because public transport links to the hospital are difficult, people generally take their cars. If they do not have a car, a family member or friend will often drive them to the hospital, whether for an out-patient appointment or for them to be admitted as an in-patient. If charges continue to be imposed at Stobhill, my constituents will be caused great financial hardship.

A moment ago, I was working out the costs of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's scheme. It is not unusual for people to visit relatives twice a day, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. If they pay £2 a day for parking, the cost will be £14 a week. If the person is in hospital for a couple of weeks, the cost will be £28. That is a lot of money, especially coupled with the additional expense that we know people face when a family member is an in-patient. For staff, the charge is £7 a day.

The unanimous view of my constituents is that it is unbelievable that the health board has introduced parking charges for patients and staff at Stobhill. As other members have said, the area is not one where there are commuters, or people who will use the car park although they work elsewhere. There are already charges at Glasgow royal infirmary. We hear that staff who work there are parking at Stobhill and taking advantage of the bus between hospitals. That should not happen. People need to be able to park so that they can visit their relatives or attend out-patient appointments. Despite everything that we want to do to encourage green transport policies, because of the poor transport links to Stobhill people will still want to take their cars for the sake of their security.

I call on the minister to use her powers to instruct NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to reverse its policy and ensure that the parking charges at Stobhill are not implemented. I ask her to address that in her response. She has used her powers elsewhere in the health service, and I ask her to use her powers here.