London taxi drivers finally handed designated St Thomas’s Hospital drop-off area
Taxi drivers dropping off sick and elderly patients at London’s St Thomas’s Hospital have finally been handed a designated drop-off area.
Since the summer, frustrated London cabbies have been handed Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for dropping patients and hospital visitors at the central London hospital.
Trade representatives met with the hospital to discuss concerns.
Anthony Street, Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) Executive, said in TAXI Newspaper: “Late last year, I wrote about the problems drivers were having when dropping or picking up passengers from St Thomas’ Hospital. As you might remember, the LTDA worked with the hospital to address this and ensure that drivers had a designated waiting and drop-off area. We also arranged for all the tickets to be rescinded. I am amazed to still be getting calls about this, but then again we all know very well what theses private parking companies are about – lining their pockets at any opportunity that is presented, so don’t make it easy for them!
“Drivers should now be able to enter, set down and pick up passengers with no issues. At our meeting with the hospital, it was agreed that there was no suitable set down area allocated to taxis to drop off a passenger using a wheelchair within the hospital grounds. Senior hospital management agreed this was a problem, not only for taxi drivers, but for their passengers and also for ambulances, as drivers dropping off at the bottom of the ramp were obstructing them.
“We identified a suitable location for a new drop-off area. We also emphasised to them that the rank would need to be marked out for taxis as a set down and pick up area only. This has now been implemented with a 20-minute waiting time and no charge when exiting the hospital grounds. To access it, you will need to go through the barriers, head to the far-left end on the ground level car park and you will find the taxi rank marked out as shown in the pictures.”
