On April 29, Patricia Mukhtar attended an appointment at Kingston Hospital, parking in a disabled bay with her blue badge – as she has done for more than a decade.
She claims her car had already been registered with the hospital as belonging to a blue badge holder.
However, on May 3, Patricia received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for non-payment of parking charges.
She told Your Local Guardian: “It appears that procedures for blue badge holders had changed at the beginning of April.
“Now the correct procedure, having parked, was to take the blue badge to the payment machine and register it there.
“At no time was I informed of this, and my appointment letter did not mention this change.”
Patricia said she challenged the fine and appealed to the Independent Appeal Service (IAS), but her appeal was dismissed.
Patricia added: “The parking company said there were notices to tell me how to proceed.
“I am 86-years-old with various health problems and attending the hospital is always a stressful and anxiety-producing time, as it is for most people visiting a hospital.
“When one is following instructions in an appointment letter and knows one is doing the correct thing, one is not looking for notices.”
A spokesperson for Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust said the new registration process for Blue Badge parking gives more “flexibility” for Blue Badge holders, who no longer need to register with parking services before going onto site.
The spokesperson added: “Instead, they can scan their Blue Badge at any of the parking payment machines during their visit to the hospital, which we hope is helpful for those travelling in different vehicles and also helps the Trust to ensure designated parking spaces are only used by patients or visitors with a Blue Badge.”
Although disappointed, Patricia said she paid the £100 fine in full.
However, she claims that her appointment letters still contain the old parking instructions.
“Visiting the hospital last week and following the new procedures, which are quite tricky, I noticed several parked cars displaying a blue badge and realised I am not the only one not aware of the new procedures”, Patricia added.
A spokesperson for Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust added: “We are sorry to hear about this individual’s experience and would encourage them to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), who can help further.”
Your Local Guardian contacted Kingston Council for comment but did not receive a response.
