Patients to pay for parking at ACT hospitals

ABC News 21/4/05

The ACT Government says introducing pay parking at hospitals will deter people from parking for free when they are not visiting the hospital.

The Government says most people will pay to park for $5 a day and all revenue will go into the health budget.

But Yvonne Cuschieri, from the Eden-Monaro Cancer Support Group, fears it will be extra pressure on struggling families.

"Whether it be cancer or whether it be something else, they're ill," she said.

"They're not on wages like you and I might be."

But Health Minister Simon Corbell has assured the public that long-term and emergency patients will be treated compassionately.

"We're not going to penalise people unnecessarily because it's been an emergency, or because there's been a crisis in the family," he said.

The Government has also announced that 100 new parking spaces will be created at Calvary in the coming months, and it is looking at a new multi-storey car park at Canberra Hospital.