 Charges vary from hospital to hospital |
If you've visited a hospital by car recently, there is every chance that you will have paid for a parking place in the grounds. On Thursday's Breakfast, we asked you to tell us how much you were being charged to park at your local hospital. We received hundreds of e-mails from you. One Breakafst viewer, Susan Gould contacted us to say that she was paying �12 per day to take her son to hospital who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. A single parent with two other children to look after, Susan finds the charge expensive. We heard from Conservative member of the Health Select Committee, Mike Penning Mr Penning said that the NHS was trying to cash in on car parking at a time when people were vulnerable and need to be at hospital - he said the (health select) committee need to look at it as well as the government. "It's not fair when the secretary of state says it's got nothing to do with her - it has got everything to do with her" added Mr Penning. Mr Penning said that if health trusts weren't happy, the secretary of state could 'stop it tomorrow morning', it's also a problem for the low paid workers at hospitals: nurses who are being asked to pay in some cases. He called for passes to be issued to those who need to make regular visits to hospital. You can also read our original story on this - Breakfast's Julia Botfield was at Derriford hospital in Plymouth, Devon
We'll be looking next week at some of the other hidden costs of a stay in hospital, such as telephone charges and television hire Have you been left ouf of pocket because of your stay in hospital? You can use this form to tell Breakfast your story
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
|  | BBC NEWS: VIDEO AND AUDIO Hospital Parking
Susannah Streeter hears one mother's story
Mike Penning MP, Health Select Committee
"The secretary of state says it's got nothing to do with her - it has got everything to do with her"
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