Which? asked a thousand and one drivers who had used an NHS hospital car park within the previous two years how they felt about their treatment at the hands of the Hospital Trusts and management. The results describe a system more often than not, ‘not fit for purpose’. In fact hospital car parks are enough to make you sick.

The symptoms: Over priced, over crowded and in need of overhaul because it is too often difficult to pay for your stay. Seven out of ten people asked, felt they had been charged too much for the parking place near to the hospital they were visiting. More than half of the people asked reported having some difficulty in finding a space while one in three said they had to queue. One in three drivers also said they had difficulties when it came to paying with problems such as having the right change or locating a machine that worked.

The silver lining: Not for the customers unfortunately but the hospitals actually made considerable profit from their car park facilities. Which? discovered under the freedom of information act that some Trusts made more than a million pounds each year.

The diagnosis: Hospital trusts are greedy and inefficient when it comes to dealing with visitors to their premises. They are, by and large, providing a poor service for too high a price. They are neglecting this important aspect of their responsibilities.

The prescription: It is the Governments’ responsibility to remedy the ills of the hospital parking scandal. A simple target to aim at, such as enough parking places at every hospital to meet peak demand could be one way forward. Other simple guidelines on fair parking rates would be another useful prescription. There is probably no need to include it in the ‘Patients Charter’. Certainly it is not beyond the wit of hospital management to use some of the revenue from parking to install more and better payment facilities.

The prognosis: Watch this space and join the Which? campaign for better hospital parking. Visit the Which? website and share your experiences and ideas in this area.

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They usually claim that the product is available in limited quantities or for only a limited time. They insist on payment in advance, usually with a risk-free money-back guarantee. They may also offer a free trial of the product that you must supply credit card information in order to get.

Their outrageous claims are usually supported by ‘real’ testimonials from satisfied customers or doctors that claim to have seen miraculous results. Although these testimonials may sound convincing, they are seldom genuine.

In spite of what these emails claim, no drug, food or supplement exists that can actually perform ‘miracle cures’ for ailments such as cancer, Alzheimer’s or insomnia. It is also highly unlikely that your doctor is involved in a conspiracy with the world’s pharmaceutical companies to withhold treatment from his patients.

It is good to be sceptical about any products that claim to have unrealistic health benefits. If it is truly beneficial, it is likely that your doctor will have heard about. Doctors are not the inept, bumbling drug-pushers that the miracle cure community would have you believe. Consult your family doctor or NHS Direct before spending money on any fantastic-sounding cure.

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This follows the controversial changes of 2006 when NHS dentists were no longer paid per treatment, but were paid a flat rate based on the amount of work they were contracted to do for the year. The new contracts proved unpopular with dentists and 2000 of them left the NHS when they were introduced in April 2006. Professor Steele’s review found that the reforms had, in some cases, led to dentists recalling patients too often and opting for unnecessarily expensive treatments.

Professor Steele’s report recommends that a significant part of dentists’ income (up to 50%) should come from the number of patients on their lists and also that dentists should be held accountable for work that is not good enough. Dentists would be encouraged to take on new patients and to build up relations with existing ones. They would have a responsibility to ensure that people understand about oral health and the importance of diet. The report also recommends what is essentially a 3 year warranty for dental operations so that a dentist would not be paid twice if remedial work had to be carried out within this time.

Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, has accepted the proposals ‘in principle’ and has also admitted some of the criticism of the 2006 reforms.

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