NHS parking charges soar to £174m

NHS hospitals made a record £174 million in the last year from charging patients, visitors and staff for car parking, an investigation has found.

Hospitals across England took £174,526,970 in parking charges in 2016/17, up 6% on the year before.

In 2015/16, £164,162,458 was raised. The Liberal Democrats have branded the charges a “tax on sickness”.

Some 120 NHS trusts across England were asked to give figures on parking charges and fines under the Freedom of Information Act, of which 111 responded.

While NHS trusts in England continue to charge patients, visitors and staff for parking, hospital parking in Scotland and Wales remains largely free.

A total of 40 trusts provided data on parking fines, showing they made £947,568 in 2016/17 from fining patients, visitors and staff on hospital grounds. This was up 32% on the £716,385 taken by the trusts the year before.

The investigation found that half (56) of NHS trusts also charge disabled people for parking in some or all of their disabled spaces, with more trusts now saying they charge disabled visitors compared to last year.

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust came out top when it came to parking income, making £4,865,000 across the year.

This was followed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which raised £3,946,312