Visit any hospital's A&E Dept, Specialists Clinics and other departments and you as a driver will end up coughing out "parking charges". This doen not come cheap and is close to what Changi Airport charges people. It is atrocious!!.
I don't seem to understand the logic behind these hefty amount, as many people go to A&E due to emergency and hospital's specialist clinics for follow-up medical check-ups. The latter dates (specialists clinics) are allocated by the hospital. In my opinion, this is unfair as the patient has already spent so much on an operation and SHOULD not be made to pay for all these car-parking charges. Given a date for follow-up means an "invitation" from the hospital, which further means that the person ought to be treated like a guest and hence excused from paying parking charges. The least the hospital can do is to have a system that any pateint driving for A&E and follow up checks can be given a coupon to exit free of charge. This is what many hotels and shopping centres do. What happens when a patient who drives to hospital is admitted? The parking charges will accumulate. I am sure many patients have gone through this experience, especially those who are alone.
A 4 hour wait at an A&E can cost the patient up to $10/- in parking fees not forgetting that the patient (or rather the cient) has already forked out a sum of $95/ for registration. The cost of X-rays and medications have not been factored in yet. Some hospitals even have "valet" service and the signs always state that "all lots are full". The valet "automatically" has to be utilised. Although, the service of the valet is free but more often than not, out of goodwill, the driver will give these poor valets some money to "lim-kopi or chiak png". Otherwise, "pai-seh".
Please give your feedback as to how and what hospitals should do to make it easier for follow-up patients (the hospitals clients). The charging of parking fees will also mean that people may not want to help others in emergencies by bringing them to the hospitals for treatment.
I don't seem to understand the logic behind these hefty amount, as many people go to A&E due to emergency and hospital's specialist clinics for follow-up medical check-ups. The latter dates (specialists clinics) are allocated by the hospital. In my opinion, this is unfair as the patient has already spent so much on an operation and SHOULD not be made to pay for all these car-parking charges. Given a date for follow-up means an "invitation" from the hospital, which further means that the person ought to be treated like a guest and hence excused from paying parking charges. The least the hospital can do is to have a system that any pateint driving for A&E and follow up checks can be given a coupon to exit free of charge. This is what many hotels and shopping centres do. What happens when a patient who drives to hospital is admitted? The parking charges will accumulate. I am sure many patients have gone through this experience, especially those who are alone.
A 4 hour wait at an A&E can cost the patient up to $10/- in parking fees not forgetting that the patient (or rather the cient) has already forked out a sum of $95/ for registration. The cost of X-rays and medications have not been factored in yet. Some hospitals even have "valet" service and the signs always state that "all lots are full". The valet "automatically" has to be utilised. Although, the service of the valet is free but more often than not, out of goodwill, the driver will give these poor valets some money to "lim-kopi or chiak png". Otherwise, "pai-seh".
Please give your feedback as to how and what hospitals should do to make it easier for follow-up patients (the hospitals clients). The charging of parking fees will also mean that people may not want to help others in emergencies by bringing them to the hospitals for treatment.
