Hospitals making millions from parking fees
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust made just under two million pounds from car parking charges in the past year.
An investigation has found some trusts are making more than ÂŁ3 million.
Year on year, hospitals across England are raising increasing amounts of money from staff, patients and visitors, including those who are disabled, the Freedom of Information study by the Press Association found.
Of more than 90 trusts that responded to the FoI request, half are making at least ÂŁ1 million a year.
Almost half of all trusts also charged disabled people for parking in some or all of their disabled spaces.
Many trusts defended their revenues, saying some or all of the money was put back into patient care or was spent on maintaining car parks or grounds.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals is one of the largest NHS trusts in England treating around 1.5 million patients every year. In a statement, a spokesperson said:
“Like almost all other NHS trusts, LTHT levy charges which cover the costs of providing more than 5,000 parking spaces on five different sites, including two purpose-built multi-storey car parks.
“The Trust does not aim to make a profit from car parking but does try to break even, as we do not believe car parking should be subsidised at the expense of delivering services. Any surplus revenue from car parking is put back into patient care.
“As well as providing and maintaining the car parks, including paying rates and other charges on them, we also have to provide security patrols and cameras to keep them safe as well as traffic officers to keep cars moving and prevent people parking inappropriately.
“Pay and display charges at LTHT have remained unchanged since 2011 and all parking services across our sites are provided by LTHT rather than outside agencies.
“It should be stressed that some groups of patients and visitors are entitled to a permit exempting them from charges. These include people receiving cancer treatment, people with a family member who is critically ill, as well as parents of children who are staying overnight in hospital. In addition, drivers with disabled parking badges are exempt from paying charges.”
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said it was unfair that hospital parking in Wales and Scotland was largely free but patients in England are still forced to pay.
"We are concerned that hospitals in England still charge patients for car parking,'' she said.
"Why is it that patients in Wales and Scotland do not have to pay to park? It is a postcode lottery and a tax on sick people who sometimes struggle to pay.
"This is morally wrong - and charging disabled people is a disgrace.''
The investigation found that some hospitals were built under PFI contracts, with all money from parking going to private companies under the terms of the scheme.
Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: When patients go to hospital, the last thing they want to worry about is keeping the car parking ticket up to** date. For some patients and their families, the costs can really rack up, which is why these figures are so worrying.
The last Labour government had a plan to phase out car parking charges, but recent attempts to discuss this matter in Parliament have been blocked by Tory MPs.''