NHS sparks outrage as three in ten hospitals charge staff over £4,000 a year to use the car park
NHS data shows 348 out of 1,175 hospitals charge staff and 132 make disabled patients pay to park
THREE in ten hospitals charge staff for using the car park, NHS figures show.
Workers at two hospitals pay an average of £2 per hour, which equates to £80 for a 40-hour working week and £4,160 over a year.
Data shows 348 out of 1,175 hospitals charge staff and 132 make disabled patients pay to park.
Edgware Community Hospital in North London and Birmingham Children’s Hospital charge the highest average for staff.
Former Tory minister Rob Halfon has called for all fees to be axed.
He raged yesterday: “This is another example of an NHS stealth tax on staff, the vulnerable and the disabled.”
NHS hospitals made a record £175 million in 2016/17 from charging patients, visitors and staff for parking, up 32 per cent in fines and six per cent in fees on the year before.
The RAC Foundation, which analysed the data, said staff parking controls must be “proportionate and stress free”.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding added: “Government guidance encourages hospitals to use pay-on-exit systems. This would at least mean the anxiety associated with a hospital visit is not compounded by paying up front and having to predict to the second how long a visit will last.”
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Gerry O’Dwyer, senior employment relations adviser at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Hefty parking charges are disadvantaging nursing staff who work around the clock to keep our NHS afloat.
“The Government isn’t giving the NHS the funding it needs but struggling hospitals should not try to make money off their staff.”
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