Taxi drivers in Dublin have called on St James’s Hospital to reinstate a taxi rank outside its main entrance, which it scrapped after staff were allegedly subjected to abuse by drivers.
Urging the hospital to put a proper rank in place, taxi driver Raymond Pender said there is now no place for patients to pick up a taxi unless they have called one from a phone in the hospital's lobby.
“There’s a bunch of sick people coming out of the hospital who may be traumatised or after getting bad news.
“They see a taxi coming and they all rush towards it and want to get in,” he told The Irish Times.
He said taxis had blocked the entrance in the past, as “there was no uniform system in place.
“It got so bad two taxi men began fighting here in front of patients, so [the hospital] stopped them coming here.
“If the driver takes [someone who hasn’t booked a taxi], then the person who was waiting for that taxi gets annoyed so it leads to a lot of anger and confusion. There should be a proper rank in place.
“I’ve taken people out of here in cases where their parents may have died or they’re after being told they have cancer. The last thing in the world they need is hassle about getting a taxi or going in to ring a number,” he said.
Rows
Taxi driver Peter Garside supported the calls for the return of the rank, saying that he regularly picks up patients after the hospital has called: "[But] I often have to wait around for patients to come out.
“For the most part people here are very polite but if people who haven’t booked a taxi come out to the front and see a taxi they don’t understand you have to book one. They get into a flap and it can cause rows,” he said.
However, St James’s Hospital, which said hospital staff have been repeatedly subjected to verbal intimidation and racial abuse by drivers, said it would not bow to the demands.
Citing “unacceptable behaviour”, the hospital authorities said there have been “multiple incidents of verbal intimidation, racial abuse and generally antisocial behaviour demonstrated” in front of patients.
An area outside the hospital’s main entrance had been used as a courtesy taxi “wait” area, but this was re-designated as a set-down and pick-up area five years ago because taxis were causing congestion.
The lobby telephone system has “resulted in an efficient set-down and pick-up area that meets the needs of patients, visitors, staff and taxi drivers”, a spokesperson told The Irish Times.