Hospital Car Park charges - £1.6m paid in Leeds last year
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust took over £1.6m from hospital car parks last year - the most in Yorkshire.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust took over £1.6m from hospital car parks last year - the most in Yorkshire.
Across the country the NHS took over 120-million pounds - 5% higher than the year before.
Some 120 NHS trusts across England were asked to give figures on parking charges and fines under the Freedom of Information Act, with 89 providing responses.
The investigation also found that almost half of all NHS trusts charge disabled people for parking in some or all of their disabled spaces.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said it was unfair that hospital parking was largely free but that patients in England were still forced to pay. She added: The shocking reality about car parking charges is that they are taking money from the sick and vulnerable to top up NHS coffers.This is not what car parking charges should be used for. The NHS is clearly underfunded, but the onus on meeting the funding crisis should most certainly not be shouldered by the sick, injured and vulnerable.We are not talking about insignificant amounts of money, either. It is alarming that trusts think it is okay to charge people so much money for visiting a hospital, as it makes patients question the values of the people leading the organisation. We take a very clear line that car parking fees need to be scrapped or strictly capped.'' Ms Murphy said it was important that drivers parked sensibly but said fines were a burden on the sick. She added: It is not right that fines should be so heavy handed on sick and disabled patients.''
A spokesperson for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Leeds Teaching Hospitals is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country treating around 1.5 million patients every year.
“Overall the Trust has over 5,000 car parking spaces across six hospital sites, including two multi-storey car parks. We have over 1.6 million vehicles on site each year and these figures about income from parking fines we issue should be seen in that context.
“As a Trust we recognise that visiting hospital can be a stressful time. We strive to ensure the experience of each and every patient visiting our sites is as safe and positive as it possibly can be.
“It is important that we effectively monitor our car parks to ensure that spaces remain available for patients, visitors and staff, not those wishing to park for other reasons. People who misuse our car parks will be dealt with just as they would, for example, in a local authority-owned facility.
“Leeds General Infirmary in particular is in a city centre location where all parking space is at a premium. This makes the car parks very attractive to non-hospital users, and over half of our annual penalty charge notices are issued on this one site.
“The Trust does not believe that the funding we receive for patients’ care should subsidise the cost of providing and maintaining car parks. 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.
“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.”