On 17/04/2017 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
NY wrote:
I'd not dream of driving to my local large hospital. Costs too much to
park there.

The problem is that if you need to take someone ill to hospital (maybe
even to A&E) there isn't really any alternative to driving there. The
patient is unlikely to be well enough to negotiate public transport.
And a taxi from a village or town to the city with the hospital would
be prohibitively expensive. Then when you get there you have to pay
extortionate over-a-barrel because-we-can parking charges, because the
NHS "free at the point of use" founding principle doesn't apply to
transport/parking.

Surely if someone is so unwell they need to travel many miles to a large
hospital, you'd call an ambulance?

When my son was ill with suspected heart problems, the local hospital
were concerned and referred him immediately to A&E at the children's
hospital in the centre of Manchester - their expectation was for me to
drive him there. It was eventually dimissed as murmur to be watched, but
not acting upon.

SteveW