NHS heroes charged £8m to park
UNION SLAMS ‘DISGRACEFUL’ ANNUAL BILL FOR REGION’S HOSPITAL STAFF
HOSPITAL staff across Greater Manchester paid a total of nearly £8m to park at work in a year, statistics show.
Figures for 2019/20 show parking tickets, permits and fines for staff brought in £7.9m at hospital trusts across the region - a similar figure to the previous year.
One union boss said: “Charging dedicated NHS staff to park at work is disgraceful. Trusts should not be clawing cash back by charging the people we rely on to keep us alive.”
The north west’s Royal College of Nursing boss said: “We continuously hear about the struggle for nursing staff to keep up with these fees.”
Over the same period, statistics show patients and visitors paid £10.8m to park. Trusts have said parking charges for staff are currently suspended during the pandemic, but fees for patients and visitors remain. They said revenue from parking charges is reinvested into hospital services.
Manchester University NHS Trust, the largest trust in the UK, saw the biggest income from parking charges, bringing in £3.4m from patients and visitors and £3.2m from staff.
It costs an average of £1.50 per hour for patients and visitors to park at Wythenshawe Hospital. Staff paid an average of 8p an hour at the hospital. That was an 11p per hour decrease compared to the previous year’s figures.
The most expensive charges locally for staff were 14p per hour at most of the sites – excluding Birch Hill Hospital – run by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. 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.
A spokesperson for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe Hospital, said: “Parking charges for staff remain suspended across MFT. Charges for patients are in line with many other NHS Trusts. Revenue from parking charges is reinvested into services at MFT.”
A spokesperson for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for Stepping Hill Hospital, said: “Staff on the Stepping Hill Hospital site still currently have free parking, but charges are in place for patients and visitors.
“Both patient and visitor car park numbers are greatly reduced on the site at the moment due to large numbers of outpatient appointments now taking place virtually, as well as continued visitor
restrictions on the site. Car parking charges are never popular, but we need to prioritise our funding investment into areas that improve the clinical services we offer our patients.”
A spokesperson for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, which brings together the Salford Royal and Pennine Acute trusts, said: “As per national government guidance charges for staff parking at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust were suspended on 1st April 2020 and remain suspended for the time being.
“Our staff parking permits are price reviewed against comparable local charges and transport costs and it is our understanding some other NHS trusts in Greater Manchester charge more for staff permits. Any profit from car parking after costs are removed is re-invested into parking, security and delivery of active and sustainable travel at the trust.”
Rachel Harrison, national officer at the GMB union, said: “Charging dedicated NHS staff to park at work is disgraceful. Government cuts have inflicted a heavy toll on the NHS, but trusts should not be clawing that cash back by charging the people we rely on to keep us alive.”
Estephanie Dunn, regional director for the Royal College of Nursing in the north west said: “Whilst we appreciate free parking is a benefit more than a right for anyone at their place of employment, we continuously hear about the struggle for nursing staff to keep up with these fees.
“Throughout this pandemic, the country has witnessed the most impressive demonstration of nursing, seeing it as a highly-skilled profession deserving of fair pay.”