Hospital Car Parks

Hospitals have raked in over £95m in car parking fees despite calls from illness-stricken families to reduce charges.

New figures revealed today show the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust made more than £1.5m for the year 2005-6, and nationally at least £95m was recouped. According to the list, released by the Estates Return Information Collection, 30 trusts across the country, including Newcastle, are making more than £1m each from car parking.

MPs have recommended that hospital car parking fees should be scrapped for patients attending on a daily basis. The Department of Health has defended the charges, saying they helped ensure only those using the hospital parked there, reiterating that charges were up to individual trusts. A spokesman said: "Ultimately it's a matter for the individual NHS bodies to decide whether or not to charge for car parking and the level of charges in the light of local circumstances. "Charges help hospitals as it discourages people who are not using the hospital from using the car parking spaces. This can be a problem in inner-city areas. Most hospitals have exemptions from charges for patients and hospital staff are generally well trained in advising patients about these exemptions."

Biggest culprit in this area? Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. I can easily see how non-hospital users (workers in central Cambridge) might otherwise park in spaces which could be used by patients and staff but ALL appointment patients should be given free parking and there should be an attended space for emergency patients arriving by private transport. One problem which has grown over time is, of course, the number of staff who now need a parking space (and that includes the army of administrators, accountants, management consultants and outside contractors.)

A good example? Ely Princess of Wales Hospital (which I have attended for a whole day on a couple of occassions). Friendly, helpful staff ("park outside the entrance so youi don't have to walk far") and it is clean - how refreshing (and unusual) is that?