| Patients 'penalised' over clinic parking charges |
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| Written by Andrea O'Neill | ||||||
 A LOCAL political party has accused council chiefs of penalising patients for the privilege of receiving medical services.The East Kilbride Alliance has slammed South Lanarkshire Council over their “outrageous” attitude to parking charges at Hunter Health Centre. The group is now petitioning the council following numerous complaints from East Kilbride motorists who claim the Civic Centre parking system is flawed and unfair to patients. Clare Keane, Alliance representative for East Kilbride Central North, said: “To park at the car park adjacent to the health centre now costs a minimum of 70 pence, and of course this charge can escalate if someone needs to be at the health centre for longer. “One lady who spoke to the EK Alliance was attending a clinic for five consecutive days and had to pay 70 pence each day for parking so she could have her treatment. “These costs at a health centre are completely unfair as users of other health centres in East Kilbride park free of charge.” Clare also discovered many people were unaware that if they were parked for under 10 minutes while picking up their prescriptions, they could go straight to the barrier and leave free of charge. However, if people return to pay at the machine within 10 minutes, they are charged the full minimum amount instead of displaying ‘no payment due’ and returning the ticket. Clare added: “There is a notice at the entrance to the car park but it does not make this very clear to car park users.” A South Lanarkshire Council official told the Alliance the car park is so expensive because of its central location, said Clare. She added: “We believe this is an outrageous position maintained by the council and penalises users of Hunter Health Centre. “A system similar to the one at the Dollan Baths should be implemented, allowing all patients to park for free.” An SLC spokesman said: “Charging for car parking at this location is something that has been happening for a number of years. “We offer 14 free car parking spaces for disabled badge holders. The rest of the car park is barrier-controlled and users pay on return to their vehicles at the designated machines. “As with all our barrier-controlled car parks there is no charge if the time from the ticket being issued to the vehicle leaving the car park is 10 minutes or less.”
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