Let's take on the hospital car-park rip-off

The lucky Welsh. Their devolved government has decided to make all hospital car parks free. Here in England, alas, we humbly accept our exploitation by local authorities, who expect patients and visitors to pay cruelly high parking fees, then slap on tickets when appointments overrun or there is a crisis.

Some weeks back I wrote about the ticket handed to me when I was undergoing pre-op tests at Queen Charlotte's in Hammersmith. Four hours after my appointment time, I was finally seen by a stretched, though excellent, medical team. Too anxious to leave the queue, even more anxious about the operation, cold dread built up that my car would be clamped. Fearsome notices threaten this. Other patients felt as helpless and caught.

Back at the car, there it was, a penalty charge notice for "not clearly displaying a pay and display ticket". Several other cars had that vindictive plastic envelope. An elderly man, almost crying, was banging his fist on the bonnet: "My wife's in the hospital," he said. "I had to stay until they took her in, push her wheelchair. What was I to do?"

Of course, the notice offers you an excellent deal - half price if you pay up, the full amount if you appeal and fail, £80 in all. Pay for going to hospital? Like hell.

Many people give in: they are that scared of the system, which stinks of greed and mandated corruption. The authorities rip us off while flagging up unconvincing "green" excuses. Imagine a child with cancer whose family has to go in for hours at a time, paying a small fortune while they all try to support the young patient.

So I appealed. I simply explained that "I was a patient caught up in the system and am being punished for this, against natural justice, surely." I had to keep my nerve as horrid warnings arrived - and have just successfully had the notice rescinded.

More of us could do the same - but a part of me feels deeply resentful that we should have to. As Sharon Grant, chair of the Commission for Patient Involvement in Health, says, this is "a swingeing tax on being ill, especially those with long-term conditions, and on caring". It is objectionable and Londoners should now object.

We must launch a campaign - Can't pay! Won't pay! The mayoral candidates should be shaming London's hospitals over this rip-off. Hospital car parks, like the NHS, must be free. The greedy have punished the needy too long already.