Newham Council think of the money

 

The Health Emergency Badge is a concessionary scheme for NHS workers undertaking urgent care in the community. It is explained here.

It is necessary to infer that Newham Council wanted a penalty because the car was near the keeper's work base. One cannot use the badge between two patient visits if you return to base and need to park for 30 minutes, you must find a pay bay or some other place to park.

The rules allow for the badge to be used when visiting a patient. If the patient happens to live  near to the place of work of the emergency care provider that isn't a bar to using the badge. These days workers don't go round on bicycles (Call the Midwife is set in the 1950s) as there is far too much medical paraphernalia to carry. You may have noticed that cycle based paramedics have a number of large bags which are equipped purely for emergency situations and so have a carefully assessed set of equipment. In that case the paramedic will often be working right next to his bike and so the kit isn't likely to be stolen so much, unlike someone going into a home for a longer visit, (although sadly anything can get stolen in 2025).

Hewham Bough is 36 km² which keep you fit if you covered it on a bicycle.

What Newham Council failed to do here was to give proper consideration to the reason for the visit, which put the lady into an exempt position. Usually, these challenges are supported by a letter from the NHS Trust (or similar) confirming the urgency of the visit and without providing confidential personal health information. A council should trust a Trust but they struggle to cancel a PCN even when they should.

An aside about the Health Emergency Badge is that the worker has to write the house number on it and hang it on the rear view mirror. Mr Mustard saw such a badge in his own street a few years ago and was concerned for his neighbours so phoned up to check the couple were OK and to see if he could help. They didn't have a health visitor! It must be coincidence that the Spires Shopping Centre is at the end of the road the health visitor's car was parked at, not near the number they wrote on the badge.

The end.