Bottom Crawlers. That's the only possible way to describe a company that leeches off the NHS. They "manage" parking services for NHS in Scotland. In other words they've been handed public access to something that belongs not to the private sector, but to us, the people. Thereby giving them a licence to print free taxpayer money.
I'm here reviewing an example of their excessive greed, idiocy and mean-spiritedness. Let's travel to the beautiful city of Dundee. Picture the scene, the sun is out, there's a bitter coastal wind blowing straight through you and the tide is out leaving sand flats as far as the eye can see, reaching almost right across the Silvery Tay to the Kingdom of Fife.
Sadly your attention is diverted from the weather and stunning scenery to your very poorly loved one, and indeed your own current ill health. Getting up early to arrive for an emergency appointment at 8am, the car parks are already busy. You find a space and display a ticket next to your prominently displayed blue badge.
To digress slightly, the blue badge scheme exists of course for DISABLED PEOPLE. Both the driver and passenger in the car are DISABLED PEOPLE. It generally allows the disabled community to have closer parking access, for example to assist a mobility disability, and as such it allows parking for an indeterminate, but of course reasonable, time to park. It might take you longer to walk back to your vehicle, or you may use a wheelchair or walking aid. The little paper ticket from the Saba machine is therefore entirely superfluous and way down the parking hierarchy.
Fast forward to the lengthy appointment to consider the possibility of a life-limiting condition for a very young adult, and the resultant stress, worry and concern for any parent or loved one. That consideration is for the general population who would understand either through similar experience, or basic human empathy, the tremendous pressure the patient and their loved ones are under in this scenario.
Not so Saba. Their staff, perhaps not their fault, have clearly not had training in what the use of a blue badge means. They seem to have no comprehension that to hold a blue badge, the user will have undergone a rigorous process of assessment. The status is undeniable: if you hold a blue badge you are disabled. For a different review, but worthy of note, Perth & Kinross Council have failed to recognise the valid disability status of a good number of its residents by denying a blue badge, and shame on them for that.
Back to the point in hand. Saba decide, despite seeing a valid blue badge on a car parked at a major hospital, that because the paper ticket wasn't renewed, they must impose a £60 fine. The reasons the ticket wasn't renewed: the patient and their carer were in deep discussion with specialist doctors; the carer has significant mobility issues and a long walk back to the car was prohibitive (hence why they have a blue badge in the first place).
Now aside from the spiteful & petty nature of the issuing of a parking fine, let's consider for a moment the disability income gap. In Scotland currently, almost 50% of disabled people are unemployed, and there is a consequent gap of more than 30% in the pay of disabled and non-disabled workers. Disability benefits (not means tested) are there to address the additional costs of living as a disabled person in a societal model which is not designed for the disabled.
So, Saba, let's see if you have the audacity to try to defend your policy/process/actions and commit disability discrimination, for that is what you did here. An appeal has been lodged, but the carer in this story would relish the opportunity to challenge Saba in court and let them lay out their greed in a public forum.
To conclude, there is one reason and one alone for this entire debacle: Maggie Thatcher (spits). Had it not been for her removal of collective society and its replacement with the cult of individualism, we would still, as the general public, irrespective of our role in society, own all public utilities. Beware the privatisation of anything. And never, ever forgive the Tories. Ever. Or Tony Blair.
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
