Hospital car park charges up by as much as 200%!

Getting ill is getting ever more costly, with almost one in three hospitals ramping up their car park charges.
Almost one in three hospital trusts in England have increased parking fees for patients and visitors, with one trust ramping up fees by 200%.
Last year hospital trusts came under fire for their parking charges after the NHS in England confirmed that total profits from parking jumped 14% to a whopping £32 million. However, the vitriol that figure sparked was not enough to convince many trusts to act on the spiralling cost of parking at the hospital.
Indeed, a paltry 16% of trusts cut their prices over the past year, compared to 28% who increased charges, according to research by SSentif, which spoke to 197 trusts.
The biggest rises
So which trusts have tabled the biggest rises? Below are the eleven trusts who have increased prices by at least 50%.
Trust |
09/10* |
10/11* |
% increase |
Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.25 |
£0.75 |
200% |
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust |
£1 |
£2.50 |
150% |
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.28 |
£0.60 |
114% |
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust |
£0.67 |
£1.42 |
112% |
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.50 |
£1 |
100% |
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.50 |
£1 |
100% |
North West London Hospitals NHS Trust |
£0.88 |
£1.58 |
81% |
Devon Partnership NHS Trust |
£0.09 |
£0.14 |
52% |
St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust |
£0.67 |
£1 |
50% |
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust |
£0.63 |
£0.95 |
50% |
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.40 |
£0.60 |
50% |
*Average charge per hour for parking within the grounds for a three-hour period.
Given that the national average for an hour’s parking is now 77p, a few of the trusts highlighted in the table above are still not the worst offenders, despite increasing their costs significantly.
However, Airedale NHS Foundation slapped on a 150% price increase at Airedale General Hospital, making it the most expensive hospital car park in the country, charging more than three times the national average.
Free parking
Of course, not all trusts are cashing in on sickness by ratcheting up the costs of parking in their hospitals. Indeed, two trusts – East Kent Hospitals University and Nottinghamshire Healthcare – have stopped charging altogether. They follow Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust, which led the way in ditching car parking fees in early 2011.
Here are the 12 trusts that cut their charges by at least 50%:
Trust |
09/10* |
10/11* |
% decrease |
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.47 |
£0 |
100% |
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust |
£0.16 |
£0 |
100% |
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust |
£1.20 |
£0.20 |
83% |
Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust |
£1.50 |
£0.50 |
66% |
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust |
£1.50 |
£0.50 |
66% |
Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust |
£1.20 |
£0.40 |
66% |
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust |
£2 |
£0.70 |
65% |
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust |
£3 |
£1.07 |
64% |
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
£3.40 |
£1.27 |
62% |
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust |
£0.33 |
£0.14 |
58% |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust |
£0.33 |
£0.17 |
50% |
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust |
£1 |
£0.50 |
50% |
*Average charge per hour for parking within the grounds for a three-hour period.
Why are we charged for being sick?
It strikes me that cashing in on someone’s misfortune in being sick or injured is a bit… well, sick. Nobody wants to spend their time in hospital. But sometimes you have to, and surely if we are to have a health service that is free at the point of delivery, that should extend to parking as well?
After all, hospitals in Wales and Scotland don’t charge for parking. Why are things different in England?
And even if you do absolutely have to charge, how can trusts defend the massive variances in the amount they charge? Devon Partnership manages to get by charging 14p an hour, while Airedale wants £2.50 an hour. Is the cost of providing car parking spaces that much higher in Yorkshire than Devon that Airedale needs to charge almost 18 times more?
What do you think? Should we pay for hospital parking? Should there be a cap on charges? Or should it be free for everyone?
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Further to previous comments, because private hospitals do not charge for parking at the point of entry/exit does not mean it is free. You are paying for the car parking as part of the (massive) overall cost you pay. That should give you an idea of what the treatment is costing your local NHS Hospital which everyone gets free, including European visitors, eastern european immigrants, African Health travellers and illegals. NHS Hospital Trusts are having to make 20% reductions in their outgoing costs. By covering the costs related to providing car parking, lighting, walkway and road maintenance, etc., they are not taking from medical budgets. Likewise any profit, as opposed to income which is ploughed back for maintenance, can ensure that a nurse does not lose their job or an extra operation can be performed. The bigger accident and trauma centres also have to provide a service for major incidents, such as motorway crashes, train crashes, etc., at a fixed rate. Often this does not cover the service and treatment given. If you can afford a car, you can afford a small parking charge bearing in mind the free and reduced concessions for those on benefits, unemployed, long term patients and those who need regular treatment such as renal and cancer patients. Often the local council charge much more yet you happily pay it to go shopping. For instance, Cambridge City Council have the highest car parking charges in East Anglia and wanted to introduce a congestion charging zone including Addenbrookes Hospital. That really would have been a charge on the sick, and on nurses who cannot afford to live locally.
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A few years ago, my accountants with a large city office, told all staff (30 odd) to park in the free facilities of a local hospital, where a private bus met them at 8.15am to take them into the city.office for the day. The bus was shared by a solicitors partnership. This practice probably contributed to the eventual parking charge.
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A couple of years ago I was recommended to have a common hernia repair. My GP offered me the choice of 4 hospitals 2 NHS, 2 private but paid for by NHS. I went for one of the private hospitals, quick treatemnt, private room, good service and no parking charges. We're often told by NHS pressure groups that having private services in health is a bad thing - but if the NHS can't compete in offering decent services on a non-profit basis with the private sector which has to make a profit, it perhaps shows that the NHS isn't fit for purpose.
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26 March 2012