h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I live on the edge of town in a nice, quiet cul-de-sac. A new hospital is being built across the main road and my neighbours and I have been watching progress with interest. The hospital is huge, designed to centralise medical facilities for 3 other hospitals in the area which will be closed down when it opens. However, the new hospital will have 80 fewer beds than the combined total of the hospitals it replaces. It's also going to be a teaching hospital, so 50% of the rooms are for offices & the like. The car park doesn't have enough spaces for the staff, let alone visitors so no doubt cars will spill over into the surrounding streets. Which is why our quiet wee cul-de-sac is getting parking meters according to the letter I got today. £2 an hour, max 2 hour stay. Residents will be invited to apply for resident's parking permits which are first come first served, max one per household. 20 permits are available for the 36 houses. They cost £80 a year.

Great > I've got 3 cars, what am I going to do with the other 2? My neighbour has 2 cars - one for himself to get to his work in Grangemouth 5 miles away and one for his wife to get to Glasgow, 16 miles away. There is no public transport that fits in with their shifts.

For the "priviledge" of living next to an inadequate hospital, the locals are going to be severely inconvenienced and will be"allowed" to park their cars if they're lucky for £80 a year.

Oh what a frickin' joy.

And, they're actually building this hospital, in the knowledge that they're providing insufficient parking for even just the staff? Someone actually got paid to have that as an idea. I can't even get a parking permit for my own road, as some smart idiot at tthe council decided it had to have your car registration number on it.... Pissed off the guy downstairs in the guitar shop as he employs several people but can only get one permit which will work only with one car

Half way through the build, they discovered the builders had missed out a building. They had to knock a huge section down and rebuild it again.

There's loads of land around the hospital, but if they build car parks on it, the NHS Trust will be charged Rates. Even though ultimately it all comes out of the same pot of public money, because different departments are involved and it will affect budgets, they won't build the necessary car-parks.

Besides which, it's a good moneyspinner for the council to charge for parking where previously it was free. I'd say they could probably get 40 paid parking bays in our street alone. £2 an hour allowing for 6 hours occupancy a day brings in about £150k a year. And that's just our wee street. There's a dozen more in the vicinity.

I reckon they're doing that as the government has said they're scrapping all hospital parking charges and from my past experiences with Falkirk Council I ain't surprised at what they're doing. I'm guessing you've already put in a complaint to your MSP?

Here's another stupid NHS idea for you - the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh will soon have the Sick Kids Hospital on site as they're building a new one. Guess where they plan to build it - slap bang in the middle of Car Park B, right by the maternity unit. Idiots; as if it isn't stressful enough trying to find a parking space when your sprog is well on the way - I should know

Sounds about right Fords.

On a related note, my mum's a District Nurse. Recently they lost their offices at the Health Centres. They were kicked out to make room for physios and smoking cessation nurses. The Practice partners get paid for every course they lay on - supposedly to pay the nurses but they pocket the money. The District Nurses have to do the flu jabs. For every flu jab carried out, the practice gets £10. That goes straight in the Doctor's pocket too.