HOSPITAL PARKING COST PATIENTS AND STAFF £8m

PATIENTS, staff and visitors forked out more than £8 million to park their cars at hospitals across Coventry and Warwickshire last year.

Latest figures from NHS Digital show NHS trusts covering Coventry and Warwickshire had a gross income of £5.9 million in 2018/19 from parking for patients and visitors, and £2.5 million from parking for staff.

It cost a total of £1m to provide parking at the sites last year.

This means the profit from car parks at Coventry and Warwickshire hospital trusts was £7.4 million last year.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust saw the biggest income from parking charges - £4.2 million from patients and visitors, and £1.8 million from staff.

It costs an average of £1.5 per hour for patients and visitors to park at University Hospital.

Parking charges increased last year - up from an average of £1.43.

Staff pay 15p per hour on average at University Hospital, up from 14p per hour in 2017/18.

Staff are more likely to have parking permits so, for example, if they are paying £2.40 a day, that would equate to 10p per hour.

The trust also charges for disabled parking.

A spokesman for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust explained that the car parking is carried out by a private firm and that the cash raised from fees is ploughed back into car parks.

“All car parking at UHCW NHS Trust, including staff and visitors, forms part of a Private Finance Initiative Contract and as a result the hospital does not generate any car park revenue directly from either staff or visitors,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesman added: “The figures highlighted include VAT which is passed onto the government by our PFI partner. We work very closely with our PFI partner to minimise the impact of charges for patients, visitors and staff by providing a subsidy. Any further subsidies would take money from budgets used for patient care.

“Money generated from parking fees at University

Hospital and the Hospital of St Cross goes toward essential running costs of the car parks and surrounding areas, this includes services such as maintenance, security, lighting and any site improvements.

South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust statementElsewhere Warwick Hospital and Royal Leamington Spa Hospital had the most expensive parking locally, with patients and visitors charged an average of £1.57 per hour, followed by £1.56 per hour at Stratford Hospital.

These are run by the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

In a statement, a spokesperson explained that they try to keep prices as low as possible and funds are reinvested into the car park maintenance, which frees-up money for the hospitals themselves.

“South Warwickshire

NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) endeavours to keep its car parking charges in line with the national travel cost scheme. Warwick Hospital, Leamington Hospital and Stratford Hospital’s Public car parking rates have not increased since October 2013,” the spokesperson said.

“The trust does not aim to make a profit from its car parks and all income is reinvested to ensure that they remain safe and secure. Without charging, necessary maintenance work would have to be funded by the trust, impacting on the money which is available for direct patient care.

“SWFT are always looking to enhance patient experience through numerous initiatives and developments.

The trust is currently in the planning stages of introducing Automatic Number Plate Recogni

tion (ANPR) with the aim to be implemented before the end of 2019.

“Combined with improved car park monitoring and management, ANPR will help provide a secure and efficient service for our patients and workforce. We also aim to improve car parking accessibility and availability. The Trust also plans to increase car parking capacity at Warwick Hospital.”

Over in Nuneaton, it costs an average of £1.17 an hour to park at George Eliot Hospital.

The Telegraph contacted the Eliot but the trust did not want to comment.

Across England, NHS trusts saw a gross income of £185.6 million in 2018/19 from parking for patients and visitors, and £86.2 million from parking for staff.

This is the total amount received from parking, including fines and parking permits.

It does not include PFI, management or running costs.

Car parking services across England’s trusts cost £71.2 million to provide.

This includes leases, staffing, maintenance, external contracts, as well as attributable directors’ and senior managers’ costs.

Overall, NHS car parks made £200.6 million in profits after the costs of providing parking services were taken into account. This includes acute hospital trusts, mental health and community trusts.

Out of 1,138 trust sites across England, 357 (or 31%) charge patients for parking. Hospital sites, however, where much more likely to charge patients for parking.

There were 300 sites out of 474 run by acute trusts (63%) charged for parking in 2018/19.

Sites run by University

Hospitals Leicester, including Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital, were the most expensive place to park as a patient, at an average of £3.30 per hour.

There were 317 acute trust sites that charged staff for parking in 2018/19, or 67% of all sites. This was up from 311 sites charging in 2017/18.

St George’s at Queen Mary’s Hospital in London was the most expensive places for staff to park, at an average of £2 per hour.

There are 156 trust sites, 33%, that charge for disabled parking, up from 143 in 2017/18.