Parking tickets sent to patient in intensive care

A woman has been issued three parking tickets and sent a letter from a debt collection company while she was "fighting for her life" in hospital.

David Matthews, from Elloughton, East Yorkshire, said his daughter, Kate, 36, had been receiving treatment at Hull Royal Infirmary since March and had spent time in intensive care.

David said he had been paying for weekly parking permits for his daughter's car but had still received the parking charge notices (PCNs). He added he had tried to contact parking company APCOA but was told they would speak only to the registered owner of the vehicle.

The NHS Humber Health Partnership and APCOA have apologised and have cancelled the charges.

David described the situation as "intolerable" and said he did not want his daughter to know about the tickets while she was seriously ill.

He said: "I think when this first ticket was issued Kate was in intensive care. They [APCOA] then point blank refused to speak to us.

"It's just inappropriate to ask a seriously ill person to sign documents to enable you to contest a parking ticket. It is ridiculous."

Kate has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which affects connective tissue and was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary with a suspected intestinal failure.

According to her father, Kate had suffered a number of complications since she was taken to hospital and "could have lost her life a number of times".

Three parking charge notices were issued by APCOA between 28 June and 13 August. David said he had receipts to show they had paid for parking permits on each of the dates the charges had been issued.

"We've gone through the most difficult year of our lives – nothing to what Kate's gone through – but to have this on top is just like a straw that breaks the camel's back," he said.

"I spent the other day writing a complaint to APCOA when I should have been at my daughter's bedside."

In a joint statement, the NHS Humber Health Partnership and APCOA said: "The last thing we ever want to do for patients and families in this position is cause any undue stress or worry, so we apologise for any distress caused.

"Unfortunately, the usual process of appealing a PCN was not followed in this case. However, having looked into the circumstances of this specific case, we can confirm the parking charges have been cancelled."

Correction 2 September: An earlier version of this article stated that Kate had received four parking tickets. It has been updated to correctly state that this was three parking tickets and one letter from the debt collection company.

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