"parking at hospital"

Took my daughter to the maternity unit in December.

I have received a letter from Parking Eye to say that I had parked incorrectly and as result got a fine of £70.00 which in my view is extortionate. My car was parked outside the Maternity Unit and there were no signs or parking meter outside the unit to indicate that I needed to pay for parking. Clearly its in the interests of the company controlling the parking to ensure that parking signs are not as visible as they should be. I have visited this hospital before and have paid the parking fee so why should I risk a parking fine of £70 pounds when it would be more prudent to pay £2.00. I intend to take up this matter with CEO because I believe the signage is inadequate. I participate in meetings with Healthwatch Staffordshire and will be raising this matter with them at the next meeting. A copy of the correspondence will also be sent to the Daily Mirror who are raising a campaign about parking at hospitals for staff and visitors. If we have to go to any hospital we would normally use public transport because you don't know how long the treatment will take and the car parking charges are horrendous. I believe that anyone attending hospital should be sent a parking exemption if they are unable to go by public transport.