A patient has blasted “jobsworth” NHS bosses for making him pay almost £30 in car parking fees after he rushed himself to hospital – with a suspected HEART ATTACK.
Nasar Malik, 46, drove to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham on the advice of his GP after he complained of shortness of breath and a racing pulse.
But the car salesman struggled to find a parking space so left his vehicle in the public car park at the nearby Nottingham NHS Treatment Centre.
Once inside, the dad-of-one was diagnosed with a chest infection and kept in overnight as a precaution on February 10.
But Mr Malik was stunned when he was allowed home the next day and had to pay an eye-watering £27.60 for parking for over 24 hours.
Mr Malik, Aspley, Nottingham, said staff at the hospital told him the charge should be waived by the NHS treatment centre because of the exceptional circumstances.
He fumed: “The doctors and nurses did a great job and I’m really grateful but for it to cost me nearly £30 to park is not on.
“It’s the principle. If this was an 80 or 90-year-old who had parked there and came out to be given this charge, they would have a heart attack.
“My doctor said I had shortness of breath and my heart was racing. She said I should go to the hospital and have an ECG scan.
“As soon as my doctor said ECG, I started getting worried I might have been having a heart attack.
“I drove down to the QMC and went around the car park three or four times but couldn’t find a space.
“I saw there were public spaces at the treatment centre and went in and parked there.
“I went into the hospital and had tests done and they said they’d keep me in overnight because my temperature had skyrocketed.
“I said I needed to sort the car but security said all I needed was the discharge letter and it should be fine.
“The nurse said they had sorted it but when I came out and spoke to the woman at the treatment centre she said they had nothing to do with the QMC.
“It’s not on, I was anxious about my car when I was kept in and started feeling bad again when I came out.
“They are just jobsworths trying it on and exploiting patients there – its like I was punished for not phoning an ambulance which would have wasted resources.”
The NHS treatment centre where he parked stressed their car park was only for its patients and not for the Queen’s Medical Centre.
A spokesman for the centre said: “Many of the people we treat have severe mobility difficulties, so it’s crucial the car park is reserved for our patients who need it.
“We’ve capped all car parking charges, which are now some of the lowest in Nottingham, and we have installed 6ft notice boards and a parking attendant to make sure patients know which is the best car park to use.”
Gary Tibbs, fire safety and security manager for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “The maximum charge for a 24-hour stay would be £6 and we will use discretionary rates for those patients who need to stay in longer.
“Our charges only apply to the NUH car parks on the QMC campus because we do not manage the Circle Treatment Centre.
“Demand for our public spaces is high but we try to manage our car parks to ensure there are always spaces for our patients.”
