In an interview on BBC Radio Northampton last month, and as mentioned in the previous edition of this E-Newsletter, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, regarding Northampton General Hospital’s decision to charge volunteers to park in their car park whilst coming in to volunteer.
This was a decision made locally and not by the Secretary of State for Health, but I wrote to Mr Hunt to register my own concerns about the impact of this local decision on patients and volunteers in Northampton.
Jeremy Hunt said in his reply that he was “hugely disappointed to learn about the concern that this decision has caused locally”. He went on to say that volunteers are hugely valuable and that he would expect local NHS Trusts to be doing all they can to support them, including ensuring that appropriate parking is available to them without unreasonable costs.
In his reply, Mr Hunt also said that following my intervention the Department for Health made enquiries with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. NGH informed him that they had recently changed their car parking policy following the building of a new emergency assessment unit which would result in the Hospital losing 70 parking spaces outside the main entrance. As a result, NGH told him that they decided to charge volunteers for parking – a decision which resulted in the charity ‘Friends of NGH’, who have provided volunteers for free to the Hospital for nearly thirty years, deciding to disband as of Thursday, 31st August 2017.
NGH sought to reassure the Health Secretary that they are doing what they can to ensure patients still get the voluntary services they need. For example, the NGH Trust have met with ‘Friends of NGH’ to discuss the handover of the buggy service – a much needed transport service for patients currently run by the charity. NGH have also noted that many volunteers for Friends of NGH are willing to join the Hospital’s in-house volunteering service.
The Secretary of State said in his response to me that he “would urge all parts of the NHS to recognise the important role which volunteers play in helping staff and patients, and the opportunities which volunteering provides to those who take part.” It is clear that the Secretary of State acknowledges the wonderful work of volunteers and he has made enquiries seeking assurances that patients in Northampton do not lose out as a result of NGH’s decision.