HULL — Parking charges sent to a woman being treated in intensive care at Hull Royal Infirmary have been cancelled after her family complained that the penalties were issued while she was seriously ill.
David Matthews, from Elloughton, said his daughter Kate, 36, had been in hospital since March and had spent time in intensive care while fighting a suspected intestinal failure. He said four parking charge notices arrived between 28 June and 13 August, along with a debt collection letter, despite weekly parking permits being bought for her car.
He said he tried to contact APCOA about the notices, but was told it would only deal with the registered owner of the vehicle. The NHS Humber Health Partnership and APCOA have since apologised and confirmed the charges have been cancelled.
Father says letters arrived while daughter was critically ill
Mr Matthews said he did not want Kate to learn about the fines while she was so unwell. He described the situation as intolerable and said it was wrong for the family to be dealing with parking penalties while she was fighting for her life.
He said the first ticket was issued while she was in intensive care, and that the family was later sent a letter from a debt collection company. According to him, the notices continued even though he had receipts showing parking permits had been paid for on the dates in question.
He added that he felt unable to leave his daughter’s bedside to focus on the dispute. In his view, asking a seriously ill patient to sign documents to challenge a parking ticket was inappropriate and unreasonable.
Kate's hospital stay has involved severe complications
Kate has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition that affects connective tissue, and was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary with a suspected intestinal failure. Her father said she had suffered a number of complications since being taken into hospital.
He said she had “could have lost her life a number of times”, underlining how serious her condition had been over the months she has spent in care. The family said that made the parking demands especially upsetting.
Mr Matthews said they had already gone through one of the hardest periods of their lives, and that the parking dispute only added to the strain. He said he spent time drafting a complaint to APCOA when he felt he should have been with his daughter at her bedside.
Hospital partnership and APCOA say usual appeal process was not followed
In a joint statement, the NHS Humber Health Partnership and APCOA said they did not want patients and families in this position to suffer any unnecessary stress or worry, and apologised for the distress caused.
The statement said the usual process for appealing a parking charge notice had not been followed in this case, but that the circumstances had now been reviewed and the parking charges cancelled. The organisations did not give further detail about how the notices were issued or why the permits did not prevent them being sent.
The case highlights the pressure that parking disputes can place on families who are already coping with serious illness. In this instance, the hospital partnership and the parking operator have both accepted the complaint and drawn the matter to a close.
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