Hospital workers save £1m as parking fees cut

HOSPITAL staff in Plymouth saved a million pounds last year as parking charges were suspended during the pandemic.

Government policy is that hospitals should be providing free parking for staff for the duration of the pandemic.

However, while this appears to be happening in many places, not all NHS Trusts completely stopped making an income from staff parking.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust recorded zero income from car parking for staff in 2020/21.

That was a significant drop in parking income from staff, with the amount collected falling from £844,794 in 2019/20.

Across England, income from staff parking at hospital trusts dropped from £89.1 million in 2019/20 to £5.1 million last year – suggesting that while many sites dropped charges there were some that may have charged some staff, at least during part of the year.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said: “Despite GMB’s campaign, some NHS workers who risked everything to save lives during the pandemic are still paying to park. It’s a disgrace. NHS Trusts are cashstrapped after ten years of austerity, but taking money out of workers’ pay cheques is not the way to claw it back.”

As well as free parking for staff during the pandemic, NHS hospitals are now required to provide free car parking for disabled people, frequent outpatient users, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts. Along with pandemic restrictions on visitors and some elective treatment, this is likely to have led to a fall in income from patient and visitor parking.

Nationally, income from parking for patients and visitors fell from £196.5 million to £47.9 million. Similarly, at University Hospitals Plymouth, it dropped from £1.5 million to £326,578. However, the cost of providing car parking services rose from £1.7 million in 2019/20 to £1.8 million in 2020/21.

The Government has provided funding, both last year and this year, to cover the costs of suspending parking charges for staff and other groups.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have been absolutely clear hospitals should not be charging staff for parking during the pandemic and we have given them funding to cover the cost of suspending parking charges.

“We are also supporting hospitals to provide free parking to thousands more NHS patients and visitors, including disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of children staying overnight and staff working night shifts.” With surpluses often reinvested in patient care, NHS Providers, a membership organisation for NHS Trusts, said it is important trusts do not end up losing out.

In March, 2017, the Government estimated it “would result in £200 million per year being taken from clinical care budgets to make up the shortfall” if parking charges were abolished in England.

NHS Providers said allowing certain groups to park for free was welcome, and supported providing free car parking to staff. However, it believes that, should this measure remain in place, sufficient funding must be provided to Trusts to avoid any resources being taken from front-line services. It said: “Car parks are expensive to run and maintain. Revenue generated is used to maintain facilities to ensure they are safe for patients and staff. Any extra revenue is reinvested in care for patients.”