£5m hospital parking fees are a ‘tax on the sick’

A WEST Midland hospital trust has raked in almost £5 million from car parking fees over the past 12 months.

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust topped a list of 111 NHS trusts across England making £4,865,000 in 2016-17.

Patients, visitors and staff forked out to park on trust premises including Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital at Sutton Coldfield, Solihull Hospital and Birmingham Chest Clinic.

Nationally, NHS hospitals made a record £174 million in the last year from car parking fees

Hospitals across England took £174,526,970 in parking charges in 2016/17, up six per cent on the year before, according to data collected by the Press Association. In 2015/16, £164,162,458 was raised.

The Liberal Democrats have branded the charges a “tax on sickness”.

An investigation found that half 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, followed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey. The latter raised £3,946,312 in 2016/17.

Other trusts making more than £3 million a year included Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (£3,918,58), Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (£3,620,368) and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (£3,073,222).

Some hospitals defended their revenues, saying some or all of the money was put back into patient care or was spent on maintaining car parks and grounds.

Others claimed their sheer size and the fact that they served busy neighbourhoods meant they took more revenue.

The investigation also looked at the cost of parking for one hour.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: “The vast sums of money that hospitals are making from parking charges reveal the hidden cost of healthcare faced by many patients and their families.

“Hospital car park charges amount to a tax on sickness, with people who are chronically ill or disabled bearing the brunt.”

“All hospitals should be following the national guidelines to make sure that patients, relatives, and NHS staff are not unfairly penalised.”

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the current state of NHS finances meant it was sometimes hard to blame hospitals for trying to find money.

But she said that did not make the current situation acceptable.