i used disability parking -one of a group of 5- without setting my time clock. Came back to find i had, fair enough, been ticketed. The paper in with the ticket said it was for not displying a valid time clock but the PCN said i was given a 06 as i ''parked without clearly displaying a valid pay and display ticket or voucher''. Across the street was a councils run 30 minute stay pay and display its like a seperate road running longside the real road sort of off road parking -the car park part stops when the road curves back past the back of the shops and back out onto the main road. it doesnt have designate disability parking so the area closest to the shops is always full . So i use this parking area - its across the road and round the curve a bit and on its own closer to the shops . It has the wheelchair logos painted on each bay and just the signs with logo saying that this is for blue badge owners and then a sign saying parking is allowed for 3 hours. nothing else- no car park rules, nothing that DD need to pay and display. nothing to say its part of this far away parking area. just your bog standard disabled parking place that doesnt need a pay and display ticket . Now i know the rule about displaying a valid clock when in a 3 hrly parking zone- i just was thinking of what i had to get done locked the car and went on my way without a thought back in 40 minutes . So just a little advice and information - does anyone know why this code was issued? I've looked online but cant find a code for this particular offense. so is it that as there isnt a specific one so councils can use this one instead ? because its not even close !! Or is it that using blue badges along with correct time card are regarded as the 'clearly displayed valid pay and display ticket' to stay in disabilty parkings non chargable 3 hourly parking ? I am wondering if i should just pay up- i am willing to pay a fine for my 'offense' but the want to pay the correct one of not setting a time card. butshould i think of challanging it- maybe its just me but this makes it seem i was trying to get out of paying a parking fee!!

thank you nystagmite thats the very information he wanted. the DWP is sending him a form for an appeal and are sticking to the month-6th january. So I was concerned he needed to supply paperwork to support an appeal and return it with the form. with Christmas and the new year he couldn't possible get it together by then. I'll tell him- he will be very relived

No he was on IS for his illness which stoped on 6th December . this year people on IS started being merged onto the ESA benefit. Apparently people on IS or incapacity benefit ,or any of the other benefits that are now being stopped, are not transfered to ESA. They are just called to attend an ESA medical . If they pass it they get ESA 'sick' part . If they fail they don't get put on the works part , their benefit stops and they are told to sign on for jobseakers. He called job center as he has a sick note saying he to ill to work job center say he cant claim jobseakers thanks for the advice-he is going to call the DWP today . A question. Is it one month to say you want to appeal or a month to turn in everything including the form and support for the appeal as well? .

my son needs some advice. he knows I'm on this site so asked me to see if anyone on the forum can help him! he was on income support for illness - he went for his first ESA assessment just after he went on it and ' passed' . he went again some time back . Well time went by and he didn't hear anything but thought it was like last time when it took several months for a decision to be made. 12th December he received a letter from the council benefits department saying his IS had stopped and he hadn't informed them his income had changed. So he called benefits and they said he should contact job center which he did. job center confirmed it stopped 7th December and there wouldn't be any more payments after the one he had back on the 6th . They said they tried phoning him to tell him but couldn't get through! Well that sounds very wrong to me , don't they send letters to people informing them of the decision any more? They did when he passed his other ESA t! And shouldnt they tell people what to do next or how to appeal? something like this happened before he went to this ESA. he got a letter from job center saying as he hadn't turned up for his assessment his IS was being stopped. When he contacted them they found out an appointment had been made but he wasn't informed about it!! I thought if you 'failed this assessment you were automatically moved to the 'job group' , But he's been told he has to 'sign up for jobseakers allowance and it will take possibly a month to come through . He only has a few pounds left from his last payment and now it may be a month till he receives any more!. So how does he pay his gas and electric and buy food? He would appeal but this decision was made in November . he has read online he only has a month to appeal so its probably to late . And he doesn't know how to appeal anyway! Also ihe has a doctors note right through till 3rd march 2012 stating he is totally incapable of working! On the back it says if your working send it on place , if you get benefits send it another ! . he doesn't have either ! And from another posting i gather he cant apply for ESA for 6 months - I was going to say re-apply but hes' never had incapacity benefit so ESA before . So having failed his ESA this drs certificate isn't valid anymore is it? he called job center and told them he has this Dr's note they just repeated he needs to sign up for jobseakers anyone have any advice?

I don't feel 3 months is acceptable as its relating to income starting in may 2010. The reason my befits are based on gross not net , so lower, is because my pensions are not taxed at source and i have to do a self assessment (is that what its called) after that year is over. So obviously in may 2010 i cant i provide the exact figures of the tax due for that year can i? . So it might not be an 'error' as such but occurred because of the LA wouldn't accept an estimate -even from the tax office! all they had to do was take what the tax office said , use it and adjust it when the correct figures was available. there must be other people pay their taxes after doing a self assessment who claim benefits-i cant be the only person in this position! Yes i am retired - my husband worked for a USA railroad so i receive a widows pension from them and it makes up the bulk of my income .and its a set amount that will never go up or down. i also receive a small UK pension based on my NI contributions here in the UK that went up maybe a1 maybe 2 a week during that year. The UK taxes i have to pay is why i want the correct benefit- I have to save each week to pay it . So for 2010-2011 i had to pay higher rent and council tax and find over £1000 for tax. That bit of Housing and CT benefit i would have gotten would have paid a lot of that .

how far back can i get them to go on re-calculating my CT and HB? for . As they wouldn't take tax estimates for the April 2010-April 2011 and only might be willing to recalculate for sept, Oct and november i will definatly be losing all the underpay in benfits from may 2010 till september maybe till november . So basicly is there anything i can do to get that money - its well over£2000 ?

I don't think anyone has had this problem before i lived overseas and in may of 2010 i retired and started getting a USA widows pension along with a very small UK pension. the problem is these pensions are not PAYE . i file my taxes in the USA around every march and in the UK every November. Just to clarify- due to the makeup of my income -i haven't had to pay UK taxes since i returned to the UK, just in the USA. Now its all pensions so I have just paid a very UK large tax bill for the April 2010 -April 2011 tax year . Anyway i have been receiving a small HB benefit it since late 2009 . But its always been based on my worldwide gross not net income . So my benefits have always been dlower then they should have been! I wasn't told by the LA benefits department that benefits are biased on after tax income! I suppose they are only used to PAYE -so when claimants show whats going into a bank benifits department asume its their after tax income. And it wouldn't have been any good because , when i found this out, they wouldn't accept tax estimates - even from the UK government tax office - as to my weekly tax liability. They wanted to see the exact amount of tax i paid -no estimates -for 2010-2011. And that the problem i didn't have a tax statement to show them until this November 2011!! So since may 2010 my HB alone has been underpaid by over £15 a week and CT nearly 20 a month ( with tax off i was entitled to CT benefit l) thats a lot of money over 20 months !! . And on top of that every week I had to put aside tax money to pay this £1100 tax bill. And my benefits would have covered that ! So the LA recalculate my benefits only from Nov 2011 when they saw the tax information . They say, if i write to them , they might make a exception and backdate it 3 months-but thats it!. If it was the other way, they would have gone back years to get unpaid HB and CT from me! .And it doesn't seem fair as they wouldn't take the information from me!

what an terrible experience for you all . I'm a pediatrics nurse with extensive experience with newborns . And babies that seem extremely healthy one minute can collapse the next. On the information supplied, the doctors actions do appear reasonable. But not the midwives , they had an baby born by emergency c section for fetal distress-so needing to be closly monitored -whose condition was detorating .Even when the child had obvious respiratory distress the nursing staff didn't notice let react by contacting the physician. So there is a strong possibility that there was neglect here by the nursing staff . But if you follow the NHS complaints procedure you face years of trying to make the hospital accept responsibility for what happened to your son- if they ever do! I would say contact a good solicitor who deals with birth injuries and see what they say.

i suggest you contact social services again and tell them they have not supplied the information you are entitled to . Tell them if they do not send you this information you intend to contact the ICO and report them for violations of the data protection act. if they still refuse-which i doubt- contact the ICO and they will deal with it. have you looked at the ICO website?-its very informative. then when you have the full information about what went on you can then decide on the appropriate court action

So how do you know if a car park is council or privately run? Whenever I've been to the hospital I've had to pay for 2 hours parking-its the minimum- and only been in the hospital 30 minutes or so. So it seems a bit cheating on their part that you cant buy anything less then 2 hours.

just out of interest do you have to pay a fine fro parking at a hospital if you don't 'pay and display?'. My hospital doesn't charge you for the anoint of time you are there, you make a guess how long you are staying and pay in advance. I had a 15 minute test and paid the minimum which is 2 hours but my out patients clinic was running very late and i was there over 3 hours. I wasn't ticketed but want to be prepared if i am.

if your making a complaint -as well as as the medical records request the complaints file as well As for them withholding information as it might be 'stressful'- they cant. Information can only be withheld under the guidelines of the data protection act- there are very few situations under the act when information can be withheld. if they do want to withhold information they have to tell you exactly what part of the DPA they are using to deny you that information. they also have to tell you of the procedure for you to challenge their decision to withhold information. Its worth reading the DPA website-its full of useful information

I don't know if it helps but doesn't a patient have the right to be treated at any hospital they want? Is the surgeon your daughter saw at an orthopedic hospital or just the 'local' . If it was just a general hospital why not find the best orthopedic hospital and request your GP refer her to it? And your GP does seem to be trying to help her why not talk to him/her about a new referal?. If its a matter of her having already seen an orthopedic consultant so using her one 'chance' she is entitled to request a different consultant. But not a second opinion -thats different -under NHS rules a patient can request but isn't entitle to a second opinion.

Your MIL does she have any medical problems ? Since it seems its the problem is with the anesthetic not the operation , has anyone suggested an alternative to a general ? An epidural or spinal anesthetic works very well in elderly patients .

Only problem i had with getting dads file was that no-one would admit it existed!! PALs had never heard of it-or said they didn't- and the complaints department kept offering dads chart. And its been amazing what i have found in it- one thing is that dads complaint was not investigated!! His complaint was sent by the CEO to a general manager for investigation in November 2009. In march 2010 dad died and gave the trust the excuse not to met with me. instead they said it had decided to send me a final response letter and i should go elsewhere . But, as per this file , when getting the letter together,they discovered the manager had never investigated . His initial deadline was December 10th. They emailed 3 more times aftre that over the next 3 months ( always after i contacted complaints asking why i hadn't heard from him and what was going on) asking him where was it. When he never replied and they didnt followed up. So when they realized they had closed this compliant without fully investigating it , there was a big panic. Seems thats called 'maladministration' and they actually stated the ombudsman would investigate them for it if it was brought up to them. .But i didn't know about it so i couldn't raise it with the ombudsman and they were not investigated . But now i do know so am going to bring a second complaint against them- but don't know whether to go to the Trust-no more 'local resolution' for me or straight to the ombudsman or what. its not what i want as its not about dads care -or lack of-but I'll take any investigation of this hospital i can get. Oh and something else i found in the file - it was a PALs legal manager who wrote some of the replies that came from the CEO ( supporting his position) . And i had asked PALS how I could have inaccurate information in dads chart corrected , I was told it couldn't be done. I found in the file this reply was written by the complaints department who told that PALs to forward it to me as if it came from PALs . And it can be done, everyone has the right to write 'their side of events' and have it placed in the chart - so much for PALS 'impartiality'

The access to medical records act only covers you getting the patients chart. The 'complaints file ' is covered by the Data protection Act and you must ask for it by name or they wont give it to you. So just recontact them and say I am making a SAR under the data protection act and i request a copy of the 'complaints file' and all other information held by the Trust on NAME OF PERSON. They will send you a form, it varies by hospital, but will ask you 'in ordered to save time and paper' what exactly you want them to copy and send you. Mine was a box to check for chart or a place for 'other' in which i wrote 'complaints file and all other information held.' I've seen another taht is more involved asking very specifically what you want just write it in. I was told it would be £50 but i would be billed. its been 3 months and i have never gotten a bill. Remember they don't want to let you have this file and might try and do what Beachbird's trust did and say its not their policy to send out copy's of this file and anyway the data protection act doesn't cover the file. She told them that the data protection act covers all information held and if they refuse to release this information to her she would contact the commission- and they are sending it..

When someone makes a complaint, the hospital has to start a 'complaints file' . And as long as that complaint is ongoing the file has to stay open. if you go to the ombudsman they want to see it, so its kept up to date. In it are all the letters and emails you sent them and those that sent you-so nothing new there . But whats interesting about it is it contains all the internal emails sent within the hospital - and let me tell you they are very lose lipped..I know it sounds amazing that this file,it contain emails detrimental to the hospital but they are in my dads!! . I can only think its because people fire off emails when they are angry and they just don't think . And in dad are things i had never seen-what they sent to the ombudsman and she sent to them, that the ombudsman wouldn't tell me about. Answers supposedly from from PALs , were actually written by the complaints managers . And actually theres some rather insulting stuff as well. I found from it i have a totally new complainant !! This file is one of the things they are suppose to send you if you request a SAR -but what they do is send you a form for you to use to check off what exactly it is you want them to send you . They know most people have never heard of this file so of course don't request it. thats how they get out of sending it to you - they only send you what you ask for. i found out about it by chance and told Beachbird . she asked for hers and they wouldn't give it to her - said it wasnt their policy and anyway it wasnt covered by the SARs . When she threatened to go to the commission they backed down. I would advise anyone whose got a complaint to get it- but you have to be persistent-Pals deny all knowledge of it.

As beachbird says i have a big problem with PALS- they seem very concerned with offering the hospital the assistance instead of me! . i contacted them about all the inaccurate information in my fathers chart, and asked how could have it amended. I specifically told them that was all i needed but , instead of just giving me the requested advice ,PALs went to the complaints department who wrote a reply which basically said that it couldn't be done. Complaints told PALs to forward it to me as their(PALs) response which they did. I found out months later i have always had the right to have 'my side' of events placed on my fathers chart. A letter i sent after this to my MP about these inaccuracies was forward to the hospital CEO for clarification. That was sent to PALS legal department who 'looked into it' They were the ones that wrote the reply that the CEO sent to the MP as his , which stated the case had been addressed and he wasn't going to discuss the points raised in my letter with the MP. I always thought that PALs was to help and advise me, but from my experiences they are just another layer of 'protection' for a hospital.

The hospital actually says in the file, if i went to the ombudsman ,she would investigate them for maladministration, So i talked to the ombudsman's office who think i very well might have second complaint here. Seems the complaint was sent to a manager in October 2009 for investigation. He was told his report should be no later then December 12th so they could close it. But it was late march 2010 , after they did close the case ,that they realised he had never done any investigation! In fact e mails sent at that time showed he didn't have a clue what investigation they were talking about! . The information i gave the ombudsman the first time around showed a lot of wrong information ,contradictions and that dads care went against NHS and NICE guidelines, but a lot of was ignored when they decided not to investigate. On my MPs advice i had already gone back to them and requested they review their decision and they agreed to re-look at whether they made the right decision or should investigate . Then ,after i got the complaints file, i went to the hospital legal department over being refused the right to add 'my side' of what happened to dads chart - the CEO and complaints department refused to allow it. So am writing the inaccuracies out to be posted on dads chart and this complaints file. after months of getting nowhere a few things are going on.

I tried a subject access, but that went to data protection department at the hospital couple of months ago. I asked twice and haven't even had the courtesy of a reply!. But in this complaints file was something very useful, it has internal eails between departments -loads of them - and the letters sent to the ombudsman. . And some of the information is very unguarded and some about me is quite insulting .

If you are not happy with your consultant- and i wouldn't he sounds very arrogant- you have the right to request a different one. either contact PALs or check the NHS website ,its on there how to change. Same with the hospital you can go to a different one in your area. Also why not go on line and find the best doctor for you condition and see if you can be referred to him. If you were reasonably happy with the care you received at the other hospital, have you tried contacting them and telling them you are not doing so well and need an earlier appointment?

Just some information really for anyone pursing a complaint as it might help.After 20 fruitless months , just by chance, i heard about something called the 'complaints file' . When i asked PALs if i could have a copy of it, they had never heard of such a thing. But i persisted and it took several weeks but i got it. And did it make interesting reading, there were a lot of internal e mails and letters sent out about my complaint about my fathers care that i had never seen before. I even found statements showing they were certain the ombudsman was going to investigate them , that a manager 'sat 'on the complaint and did nothing for 4 months ( while i was being told by the complaints officer he was investigating and these things took time) and some rather personal remarks sent in e -mails about me the complainant.

A couple of new developments!!. I was finally sent a copy of the hospitals 'complaints file'( everyone should ask for that as it makes interesting reading, it seems from internal e mails the hospital was certain the ombudsman was going to investigate them over what happened to my dad) But if you do ask for it be careful because even PALs don't know what a complaints file is and will try to send you a copy of the chart. After reading it i spoke to the hospital legal department and raised merry hell over why the same lies are being repeated and sent out in march 2011-like the hospital said there was a meeting arranged in January 2010 and i refused to go! But I went to this meeting, Ive proof i went, and i 've repeatedly told them i did-but they didn't changed it and so its still going around . And the legal department says that all along I've had the right to have my side of things and , if i dispute something was said or done as charted , added to dads chart and I could have dispute what was in the letters sent to me and that would have been placed in this file. She was extremely surprised when i said i had asked for this many times since September 2009 and the CEO has repeatably refused!!. So now i have to go through the 100+ pages complaints file and back through dads chart and submit whats wrong about the information held and the legal department will have it added to both his chart and complaints file .also this week the ombudsman's recontacted me and is going to review whether their decision to investigate was not valid.

. A criminal case must be proved ' beyond reasonable doubt .' A civil case only has to be proved on the ' balance of ... civil trial decided that on the ' balance of probabilities ' he had. ... as the state has no interest in overseeing 'civil' wrongs. ... Yes Beach bird you may be right but in reality it doesn't work like that-as people who try to prove clinical negligence find out. The only thing that counts is 'cause and effect' . In other words what effect did the cause have on the persons life. So the delay in dads operation - the cause- led to a need for a second operation after which he died from bronco-pneumonia-the effect . My problem is proving, even if dad had received immediate surgery . he wouldn't have needed that second operation that ultimately killed him. Oh my solicitor can bring on experts to say if the first operation had been done immediately he probably wouldn't have needed the second, but the hospitals can bring other experts to say he probably would have needed the second. If you browse other postings on this forum you will see stories where its obvious negligence occurred but the families involved have been fighting for years to prove it. And actually the state is involved in these civil suits-the state pays all the hospitals legal bills! . And if by the rare chance the hospital is found negligent the state pays any damages awarded.

Last year i went to the health ombudsman who decline to investigate my complaint about my fathers care . So i spoke to my MP about it and he was extremely concerned that what happened to dad could easily happen again to someone else. So he approached the ombudsman direct and asked for another ombudsman to review the complaint( he felt the one that did was new and inexperienced) . They turned him down and instead told me i was to ask them to re- look at their decision not to investigate. So I've done that but i am not too hopeful they will change their minds. . On their website they say they received 900 complaints last year and only investigated 22- which seems pathetic. Has anyone ever actually gotten them to investigate a complaint or to reconsider their decision not to investigate? And if so did they uphold the complaint ?