Stealth tax on the sick!
Battle to end the misery of hospital parking rip-off goes straight to No 10
CAMPAIGNERS demanding an end to rip-off hospital parking fees delivered a petition to Downing Street yesterday.
More than 25,000 people are urging ministers to scrap the “stealth tax on the sick”.
Sky-high tariffs force some patients and their relatives to pay £4 an hour, with hospitals raking in £174 million from parking charges in 2016/17.
Tory MP Robert Halfon said: “Hospital car parking charges are a stealth tax on the sick. They are a stealth tax on the vulnerable. They are a stealth tax on families. And they are a stealth tax on hard-working NHS staff.
“Our petition urges the Government to scrap hospital parking charges.”
Mr Halfon thanked the Daily Express for highlighting the “misery” caused by the charges.
He added: “It is causing misery. Some of the charities we have worked with have said parents are unable to visit their prematurely born babies or family members with cancer because they cannot afford the parking charges.”
The Government said in 2014 that people visiting gravely ill patients, staff and blue badge holders should receive free or reduced parking.
But nearly half of hospitals have increased their hourly charges, with many private parking companies taking huge slices of the profits.
Punish
Representatives from motoring campaign group FairFuelUK, children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent and brain injury charity Headway joined Mr Halfon in Downing Street.
FairFuelUK founder Howard Cox said: “These charges hit those on low incomes and the most vulnerable the hardest. It is a stealth tax, it is social injustice and it has got to stop.”
Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust made more than £4.8 million from parking charges in the West Midlands in 2016/17, while more than twothirds of trusts in England made over £1 million.
Kate Lee, chief executive of CLIC Sargent, said: “We know that family or a parent who are taking their children for life-saving cancer treatment at hospitals are paying £44 a month to park and £180 in travel costs.
“It is ridiculous and it is putting families into cancer poverty.”
Peter McCabe, chief executive of Headway, said: “When a brain injury strikes, families are anxious to be close to the bedside of their loved ones.
“Excessive hospital parking charges punish families who are already trying to cope with the most difficult of circumstances and the Government must act now.”
Almost half of hospitals also fail to offer concessions to disabled drivers.
The petition states: “Hospital car parking charges affect the vulnerable, visitors of ill relatives and hardworking NHS staff. The fees are a major cause of social injustice.
“In 2014, the Government introduced guidance suggesting free or reduced parking should be available for staff, blue badge holders and visitors of gravely ill relatives.
“Since then, 47 per cent of hospitals have increased their hourly parking charges and almost half still charge blue badge holders.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “While NHS trusts are responsible for these charges and any revenue goes back into frontline services, we are keeping this area under review and want to see trusts coming up with options that put staff, patients and their families first.”