Macmillan Cancer Support welcomes Scottish Government decision to scrap hospital car parking charges.
Commenting on the Scottish Government's announcement today that car parking charges are to be scrapped in Scottish hospitals. Elspeth Atkinson, Macmillan Cancer Support's Director for Scotland, said:
'Macmillan Cancer Support wholeheartedly welcomes today's announcement and congratulates the Health Secretary for listening to cancer patients in Scotland who have long been calling for parking costs to be scrapped.
'On average cancer patients make 60 trips to hospital from diagnosis to treatment to follow up, and as a result they are hit particularly hard by travel and parking costs. Macmillan has been campaigning for some time for these unfair charges to be scrapped and today's announcement will go some way towards reducing the financial burden that can come with a cancer diagnosis.'
Commenting on arrangements for NHS Boards that have car parks operated under PFI contracts Elspeth Atkinson said:
'We are pleased to see that the Health Secretary has instructed those Boards that have external contracts in place to limit or reduce the cost of parking. We will be keeping a close eye on these arrangements to make sure that Scottish cancer patients, wherever they receive treatment, are not financially penalised.'
Macmillan Cancer Support launched its Better Deal campaign in 2004 to help people cope with the financial costs that come with a cancer diagnosis. Two of the biggest extra costs that cancer patients must deal with are the costs of travel to and from hospital for treatment, and the cost of parking at hospital. Cancer patients in Scotland face the highest costs in the UK for travelling to treatment, an average of £636 over the course of their treatment*.
Although there are schemes in place to help these are not always well promoted and not all patients are entitled to assistance.
Elspeth Atkinson added:
'It is absolutely wrong that any cancer patient - regardless of income – who is undergoing regular treatment for a potentially life-threatening disease should be forced to pay for unavoidable transport costs.'
The Scottish Government's announcement follows similar moves by the governments in Wales and Northern Ireland. Macmillan Cancer Support now hopes the Department of Health in England will follow the example set by the devolved administrations and scrap charges for cancer patients attending hospitals in England.
* Cancer Costs report, Macmillan Cancer Support, June 2006.
For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Kate Seymour, External Affairs Manager, Scotland and NI.
Tel 0131 260 3720 / 07801 307032
Email kseymour@macmillan.org.uk
About Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer, providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support. Working alongside people affected by cancer, Macmillan works to improve cancer care. One in three of us will get cancer. Two million of us are living with it. If you are affected by cancer Macmillan can help.