A tax on the sick
Half of hospitals RAISED car park costs after being told by Health Secretary to cut them
HoSPITALS last night faced calls to end rip- off parking fees after it emerged that nearly half have raised charges since ministers ordered a crackdown three years ago.
Patients and visitors are paying up to £4 for an hour’s parking as health bosses seek to profit from what was branded a ‘stealth tax’ on the sick.
In 2014, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged NHS trusts to reduce charges, as he demanded that people should be able to get to get to hospitals ‘as conveniently and economically as possible’.
But figures show that 147 hospitals in England (47 per cent) are now charging more per hour than they did three years ago. Former Tory minister Robert Halfon, who will next week introduce a Bill in the Commons demanding that all parking charges are scrapped, last night branded the fees ‘ blood money’ as he accused hospitals of being shameless.
He said: ‘No one goes to hospital by choice, they go because they have to or because they are visiting relatives or friends. It is an unjust stealth tax. There should not be charges for anyone, whether you go for a week or a day, because it is not a luxury to park at a hospital. What better way could there be to show that we care about the NHS than if we scrapped unfair hospital parking charges?’
He added: ‘The Department of Health guidance is not working. Some of the charges have gone down a little bit, but there are too many places where people are paying a huge whack.’
of the 315 hospitals that provided figures to mr Halfon, 147 have increased their hour rates since 2014 by an average of 71p.
The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford is the most expensive in the country, with a minimum parking charge of £4 for up to two hours – which means visitors who stay for only an hour will still have to pay £4. The charges only apply to patients in England – hospital trusts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all abolished them.
The Government has repeatedly promised to make it easier for patients and visitors to park for free but has stopped short of scrapping charges altogether.
Department of Health guidelines urge hospitals to offer concessions to cancer patients, the disabled, relatives of the very sick, and fre- quent visitors to outpatient departments. But they are not binding and many health trusts ignore them. For example, mr Halfon, the Tory mP for Harlow, found that 44 of hospitals still charge blue badge holders to park.
Lucy Schonegevel of macmillan Cancer Support said: ‘Public transport is not always an option as patients can have an increased risk of infection because treatment has compromised their immune system. Treatments can also leave patients feeling tired, sick and weak, so they have little choice but to travel by car. more needs to be done.’
Figures released at the end of last year showed English hospitals are making more money than ever from car park charges – more than £120million in 2015/16.
Nearly half of hospitals hire private firms to run their car parks.
Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘I can confirm that the £4 charge is for up to two hours car parking.’
Kettering General Hospital said it had now reduced its charges to £3 for up to two hours. When the figures were compiled it was £3.20.
The Department of Health said: ‘NHS organisations are locally responsible for the methods used to charge, and we want to see them coming up with flexible options that put patients and their families first.’
‘It is not a luxury to park at a hospital’