I woke up last night to hear absolutely torrential rain outside. It seemed to go on for ever. I imagine there'll be flash-flooding. No doubt the road coming round the Four Bridges roundabout near Eaglestone will be flooded. Well, with Carol still in hospital, there's absolutely no chance of us getting out and about as we had planned. I think they are getting to the reason for her health-problems at last. I'm going to see her at 10 o'clock this morning and I'm hoping the doctors will be able to tell us what's going on and how they can sort things out.
I'm appalled by the cost of hospital parking. When we first went the other morning, early, we went in the car and at Milton Keynes Hospital you have to go into the carpark and take a ticket from the machine. When you leave, you have to use the ticket machine across the road. You put your ticket in and you're told how much the charge is. You can use coins or notes (but the machine won't take 5p pieces) and can use your credit or debit card to pay. Trouble is, you can barely read the digital display. It's very faint and rather like some older A.T.M. machines which have displays that are unclear, particularly when the sun shines on them. Also, the screen is very low and not at a height that makes it easy for someone as tall as myself. I was shocked that I was charged £4.50 that first day, even though I'd been at the hospital since well before 6 a.m. Yesterday it was £3.50, and I was only there barely two hours. Considering you don't really want to be at the hospital, it seems a bit of a liberty to charge for parking. It just seems to be just another way to make money. I realise that the carpark needs maintaining, but why does it have to be paid for from car parking? There's even a branch of Costa coffee in the new reception area of the hospital. I suppose it's a good idea and great to have such a facility at a hospital, but I begin to wonder whether it's just another money-making scheme. I presume that Costa pays rent for the site and the hospital takes some of the profits. Having been to Addenbrook's Hospital in Cambridge, I've seen the mini shopping centre in their reception, with a W.H.Smith and other high street shops.
I don't know whether people who don't know about the parking arrangements at Milton Keynes Hospital that you need change to use the machine or whether you can use your card to pay, but it's a good idea to have enough change to allow you to pay, otherwise if you don't, you'll be stuck in the carpark as you need to put the ticket you got when you entered to get out as there is a barrier at the exit which will only rise once you put the ticket in the machine. You won't be able to get change from anywhere in the hospital and even if you go to reception you won't be able to get change.
Another annoying factor is that they're currently upgrading the hospital. The former reception has moved around to be opposite the multi-storey carpark and it's quite a long walk there from the ground-level carpark. Also, if you're new to the hospital, it's not entirely clear where you have to go as signage is a bit vague or if there is any, it's not exactly prominent.
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