Clamping on NHS Trust ? Crown Property

[ningnang]

My local Gp's have a brand spanking new Medicine Factory. They used to be called surgeries.

At the gate is a sign saying that the car park is monitored , and anybody they don't like will be clamped . They claim that it is Trust Property.

My take is that if the property belongs to a trust then within the meaning of the 2012 act it is private land. whether or not they can hide behind Crown Immunity and clamp without lawful authority I do not know.

But I don't like practice managers , who seem to have more say than Doctors these days, chucking their weight about.

We units of illness (It's now all our fault or in our heads) once called patients, should have a say. Any opinions would be welcome

[BazzaS]

My local Gp's have a brand spanking new Medicine Factory. They used to be called surgeries.

At the gate is a sign saying that the car park is monitored , and anybody they don't like will be clamped . They claim that it is Trust Property.

My take is that if the property belongs to a trust then within the meaning of the 2012 act it is private land. whether or not they can hide behind Crown Immunity and clamp without lawful authority I do not know.

But I don't like practice managers , who seem to have more say than Doctors these days, chucking their weight about.

We units of illness (It's now all our fault or in our heads) once called patients, should have a say. Any opinions would be welcome

 

Does your residence have a drive or allocated parking?

Do you like to choose who can park there, or if it were it to have parking, should you have control over who can park "in your space"?

 

If the doctor's surgery doesn't have space for patient's parking : are you suggesting you should be allowed to over-rule how they have decided to allocate their parking spaces for their staff?.

 

Do you feel that their staff who may be using those cars to attend patients who can't get to the surgery should have to park elsewhere?

 

What about the "on-call" GP who may have to make urgent house calls?

[instrumentsofjoy]

Does your residence have a drive or allocated parking?

Do you like to choose who can park there, or if it were it to have parking, should you have control over who can park "in your space"?

 

If the doctor's surgery doesn't have space for patient's parking are you suggesting you should be allowed to over-rule how they have decided to allocate their parking spaces for their staff?.

 

Do you feel that their staff who may be using those cars to attend patients who can't get to the surgery should have to park elsewhere?

 

What about the "on-call" GP who may have to make urgent house calls?

 

All those things can be dealt with without all this clamping horlicks. They can't anyway - it became illegal on October 1st. It has been illegal in Scotland for years. no-one has yet died as far as I am aware because people can't clamp. There are exceptions - but I doubt this is one of them. As for GP's making urgent house calls - let me know when it happens. They tend to use locum services nowadays.

[lamma]

Crown Immunity ? how on earth could they have that ? ( Plus the crown has not enjoyed unfettered immunity for quite some time now.) Clamping can only be done where specific legislation or express powers are in force, which allow for vehicles to be legally immobilised or removed. What specific legislation or express powers exist for this surgery ? If they do exist do they allow for vehicles to be legally immobilised or removed ?

[BazzaS]

All those things can be dealt with without all this clamping horlicks. They can't anyway - it became illegal on October 1st. It has been illegal in Scotland for years. no-one has yet died as far as I am aware because people can't clamp. There are exceptions - but I doubt this is one of them.

 

Agreed they can't clamp, but I wouldn't want the OP to feel they have carte blanche to park where the surgery say not to.

 

As for GP's making urgent house calls - let me know when it happens. They tend to use locum services nowadays.

 

Most certainly use a co-op or deputising service out of hours, but make calls themselves during the day. I wouldn't have an issue with the OP parking at night, or even during the day IF it wasn't going to cause the surgery disruption!

 

The fact they do make house calls can be used to your advantage if you get told the "there aren't any appointments" gambit : if told this and you REALLY do need to be seen urgently but it isn't so urgent you need to dial 999, an appointment can suddenly become available if you agree with the receptionist sympathetically, and note "probably not a bad thing there are no appointments, as I wasn't sure I'd be we'll enough to get to the surgery, so might well need a home visit ......"

Edited November 14, 2012 by BazzaS

[ningnang]

The point of my question was not what people think should be the case, but is it lawful?

The surgery in fact does not get much inappropriate parking at all. But they are not above the law.

What I really was interested to know was , are the clamping signs legal? It is a heavy handed approach.

In the past I have had idiots park across the access to the ambulance station I worked at. Nothing was done then. You will always get morons taking the p**s , why should the rest of us more reasonable people be theatened with a big stick and cowboy clampers for the act of a very few idiots.

It must however be said most on call doctors have to be dragged out kicking and screaming.

[instrumentsofjoy]

Clamping is illegal.

 

So is the notice threatening it.

[lamma]

The point of my question was not what people think should be the case, but is it lawful?

The surgery in fact does not get much inappropriate parking at all. But they are not above the law.

What I really was interested to know was , are the clamping signs legal? It is a heavy handed approach.

In the past I have had idiots park across the access to the ambulance station I worked at. Nothing was done then. You will always get morons taking the p**s , why should the rest of us more reasonable people be theatened with a big stick and cowboy clampers for the act of a very few idiots.

It must however be said most on call doctors have to be dragged out kicking and screaming.

 

Clamping can only be done where specific legislation or express powers are in force, which allow for vehicles to be legally immobilised or removed. What specific legislation or express powers exist for this surgery ? If they do exist do they allow for vehicles to be legally immobilised or removed ?

[Aretnap]

The question is not whether the car park is private property - the legislation does not differentiate between public and private property - but whether there is "lawful authority" to clamp there. As express or implied consent is not lawful authority for the purposes of the act, a sign warning of clamping can't provide that authority - there would have to be a byelaw or similar allowing it. It's very unlikely that such a byelaw would cover a doctor's car park.

 

That said it's the act of clamping that's illegal. It's not illegal to have a sign up saying that vehicles will be clamped, so long as they don't actually clamp them.

 

Added: actual legislation here - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/section/54/enacted

Edited November 15, 2012 by Aretnap

[lamma]

http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/guidance-unpaid-parking-charges/guidance-unpaid-parking-charges.pdf