Free car parking for patients to be Introduced by end of year

Car parking at hospitals that fall at least partly under the remit of the Health Ministry will be available free of charge for either four or five hours at a time before the end of this year, according to Health Minister Tomáš Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee). Under the measure, 70 percent of all hospital parking places will be allocated to patients, with six percent of those spaces being for disabled people. Hospital staff will be able to park their cars on the remaining 30 percent of places. A binding ministry decree to this effect will soon be drawn up for the hospitals concerned. The date as of which the measure will be introduced will vary, as it will be conditional on the amount of control that the ministry exercises in each facility. The ministry has a total of 58 hospital carparks under its remit, with more than 20 of them currently subject to charges. Six of the parking areas are in the hands of private contractors.