bridge too far

Exeter play very attractive football IMO - to a much better standard than the average League 2 team (as they were last season).

No, s/he is going to be the owner

I'd go for Tisdale too

But he died in 1986! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Helpmann He was a brilliant dancer.

I don't work for the NHS any longer John, but I did for many years both before and after parking charges were introduced (around about 1990 IIRC). As I keep telling Ron, I haven't had to park at SGH because I don't live locally but my other half used to work there and had to use the P & R. I agree with you about consultants and senior managers getting free parking. Usually the criterion is that they actually need to use their cars as part of their work e.g. commuting between sites for clinics and theatre sessions. I know when I managed a hospital car park in Buckinghamshire we tried to get the consultants to pay (all other staff did, including senior managers) but we lost our case because they threatened to withdraw their labour! And Ron - it's good to know SGH have 'short stay' parking outside A & E. So does the hospital I was referring to re my daughter - now. But it didn't at the time when parking was free and therefore oversubscribed. And that's the main thrust of my argument, really.

Grovelling apology - I've just read back and I can see you said that you dind't think parking should be free. Sorry. However, I did, with respect, also point out that SGH charges are less than Portsmouth and certainly less than Oxford where the hospital is in a comparative location to QA, and that there are concessions. Where demand exceeds supply there will always be a cost attached. Even with the charges, there are often no available spaces if the SGH website is to be believed. The Park and Ride I was referring to was for staff, BTW. I do also recall, many years ago before my local hospital charged for parking, I turned up one day with my 2 year old daughter who had concussion from slipping on ice and banging her head. There weren't any parking spaces available (because they were all free and therefore, it's safe to assume, being abused) and it was suggested that either I leave the 2 year old in A & E with my 4 year old while I went to the nearest public car park or that I parked in said public car park and carried a concussed child, whilst holding the hand of a 4 year old and walking on icy pavements! I would have welcomed a regulated car park back then.

Ron, I wasn't talking about SGH - I don't know anything about it and I said so (apart from the bit about Mr TF having worked there in the past). But if you extrapolate the points I made about parking spaces, bed numbers, outpatient numbers and staff numbers in Oxford to SGH (a much larger hospital I believe) you'll understand the point I was making. What would your solution be to ensure that genuine users had access to SGH parking spaces as far as possible, and to maintain the car parks (by that I mean repair, gardening, litter picking etc.)? I say again, most hospitals have policies whereby long-stay patients and their visitors get at least discounted parking. You might be interested to read Oxford's policy. http://www.oxfordradcliffe.nhs.uk/findus/jr/jrcar.pdf I'm sure SGH has something similar. Indeed, although I couldn't find the info on staff numbers, beds, numbers of parking spaces etc. I did find this about concessions: The maximum charge for patients and visitors is £6.00 for one visit in any 24 hour period. If you stay longer than 6 hours, please obtain a parking discount voucher from the ward or department you have been visiting and take it at the security desk located at the main entrance to the hospital. There are special concessions available for some of our patients receiving treatments. Further information regarding these can be obtained direct from the department. Long stay parking If you need to use the car park for more than a few days, it may be worthwhile considering purchasing a long-stay ticket. Long stay tickets allow unlimited parking for either 7 days at £14.00, 14 days at £28.00 or 30 days at £42.00 People are very quick to leap onto the 'let's knock the NHS' bandwagon without actually thinking through the ramifications of free parking.

You mean the NOTW reads this forum too :shock:

Winchester is one mile from the city centre. QA is close enough to Cosham for trains. The problem is, Ron, if parking was free two things would happen: 1. Staff would park on site. For example, at the main Oxford Hospital (also not in a town centre but close to a busy shopping centre and charging £10 per day) there are over 9,000 staff. OK some work shifts and some will be part-time. It has 1,000 in-patient beds and, during the course of the year, sees half a million out-patient visits. It has just under 700 parking spaces. 2. Other people WOULD park at the site and then catch buses into the city or visit the local shops. The alternative would be to provide thousands of car park spaces for free but hospitals are governed by local planning laws that apply a percentage number of spaces based on patients, visitors and staff. Another point you should bear in mind is that if the car parks were not maintained out of car park revenue, they would have to be maintained out of the hospital budget. This would have detrimental implications for other, more pressing needs such as staff and equipment.

If you'd read my post thoroughly you would have seen that I spoke from experience of two hospitals (well, three if you count Winchester) not ALL hospitals and knowledge of many others. Most major hospitals are in town centres - if my memory serves me well, before the General I think RSH was the major Southampton hospital. However, one reason the General charges is to encourage staff to use the hospital's park and ride service rather than park for free / little charge on site. And I do know this to be so as Mr TF used to work at the General. The hospital's own site states that parking is limited so the last thing they need is staff parking there, willing to pay the daily charge and thereby preventing patients and visitors from parking. From their own website: The maximum charge for patients and visitors is £6.00 for one visit in any 24 hour period. If you stay longer than 6 hours, please obtain a parking discount voucher from the ward or department you have been visiting and take it at the security desk located at the main entrance to the hospital. There are special concessions available for some of our patients receiving treatments. Further information regarding these can be obtained direct from the department. And I have to say that I think their charges are very reasonable compared to many other hospitals. All day at QA and St Mary's is £8 and it's £10 at my local acute hospital in Oxford that is also 'not in the town centre' but also has limited parking.

HCDAJFM

You'll easily spot me. Here's my mask

He's a snooker player isn't he / wasn't he?

Can I clarify the car parking thing as there's a lot of misconception about car parking at hospitals. I can only talk from the following perspective. I managed car parking initially at a hospital in Buckinghamshire (before the PFI merchants took over) and I used to use QA hospital car parking quite regularly when I took my mother there. Hospitals have to charge for parking, particularly when the hospitals are in town centres. If they didn't, commuters and shoppers would park there because it was free and there'd be no room left for patients and visitors. Charges go directly to pay for the management and upkeep of the car parks. If the car parks were not maintained, they'd become unsafe (leading to claims for negligence and injury). Most hospitals have schemes whereby visitors to long-term patients can apply for free or heavily discounted parking. This certainly happened at Winchester when my father was there for 6 months after a stroke. At my local hospital, for example, fathers-to-be get free parking. Any excess income from car parking is used for things that aren't funded by the normal budget. This could be buying a piece of kit that the budget won't run to, for example. NHS senior managers' cars (allowances BTW) come out of the normal budgets, Mike, and there are strict criteria applied depending on the level of management. And of course it's a taxable benefit so money goes back to the state. It's the consultants who tend to have the big cars rather than the managers. I was a fairly senior manager and I only ever got travel expenses between sites.

I'm very very scared now :smt103

Sorry - I should have said 'until the deal was finalised'.

So true, so true...... Delia Karen Brady Heather Rabbatts to name but three. Oh and that super duper woman at Seymour Pierce whose name escapes me.

My name isn't on that list either. Could it be..............

If the backer wants to remain anonymous I think we should respect his / her wishes.

I'm not so keen on the kits TBH. I prefer the traditional red / white / black stripes but I'm not clever enough to put it on here. I do like the badge though. Innocent question - why should we / do we represent the New Forest in our badge? Maybe the tree represents the Common?

Maybe he could concentrate his 'resources' on trying to save Bournemouth again :smt102

No! I knew it already but wanted to prove it. If I didn't know I wouldn't have known what name to google, would I now

Nearly - she was Chief Executive of Lambeth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Rabbatts

Nice to read these comments from Tisdale: http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/sport/Tisdale-sad-state-old-club/article-1035881-detail/article.html

Jill, I'm so sorry to hear about your Nan. My sympathies are especially heartfelt as my mother, also a long-time and loyal Saint, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Much love xxx