Kingsway paid parking questioned
The hospital’s parking fees are staggered according to the time a parking space is occupied.
Netcare Kingsway Hospital has defended its paid parking system after a complaint from a visitor. Johan Olivier said he visited someone at the hospital in March to realise that he only got 40 minutes free parking and then had to pay R7 from 40 minutes to 60 minutes.
“Looking at the parking area in comparison to the entrance of the hospital, it is about 200 m and an older person or someone with knee problems will take about 15 minutes from the time the ticket is printed to the time of exit. This will leave them with a visiting time of only 25 minutes, to not pay.
“I contacted the general manager of the hospital who promised me that they will increase the 40 minutes to two hours and place a notice board in front of you where you receive your ticket. However, two months later I visited the hospital again and nothing had changed.
Kingsway is the only hospital in greater Durban that forces you to pay if you park for longer than 40 minutes. It is callous and absolutely shocking, considering that some people, such as in our case, travel 120km, including the return trip, to visit their sick parents. Imagine having to book someone in at the hospital?”
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Netcare Kingsway Hospital general manager, Anna Demetriou, said the paid parking system was only introduced after much consideration to uphold the safety and security of its parking facilities. “We have invested in infrastructure and additional security to help deter car theft, and the parking fees assist in covering these costs, as well as maintenance of the parking facilities.
“Also, the parking fees are essentially aimed at discouraging individuals who are not visiting our hospital, but have been using our car park as a free parking facility, thereby taking up parking that should rightfully be reserved for our patients and visitors.
“We wish to highlight that people who visit our hospital for doctor’s appointments and use the pharmacy are provided with complimentary parking tickets. In certain cases where a family member needs to stay longer than 40 minutes, complimentary tickets may be provided at management’s discretion. As visiting times are restricted to one hour, most visitors are likely to pay R7 in parking costs, which we believe is reasonable.”
The hospital’s parking fees are staggered according to the time a parking space is occupied: First 40 minutes are free; one hour costs R7; one to two hours costs R9; two to three hours costs R12; three to four hours costs R20; four to eight hours costs R25; and more than eight hours costs R30.
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“We are mindful of the concern the complainant raises about the time it may take for certain individuals to reach their vehicle from exiting the hospital. For this reason we have included a 20-minute window period, from the time that a parking ticket is paid until the validity of the ticket expires, which allows a generous amount of time for those making use of our parking facilities to collect their car and exit the boom gate. In light of the concern raised, we have now extended this grace period to 40 minutes.
“We firmly believe that we have a duty to ensure convenient and secure parking is available for our patients and visitors, particularly those who are elderly or frail,” said Demetriou.
Olivier fears Kingsway Hospital is setting a precedent and other hospitals will follow suit. He suggested a better alternative would be for the hospital to increase the free visiting time to 90 minutes and to combat the problem of people using it as a daily parking lot, change it that after 90 minutes the fee increases to R50 per hour.
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