• The Press Association has published new figures on hospital car park charges following a freedom of information request.
• It finds that four in 10 NHS hospitals in England have increased car parking prices in the last year.
• It suggests that some trusts had doubled the cost of certain stays for visitors in 2017-18.

Responding to figures from the Press Association on hospital car parking charges, the head of policy Amber Jabbal said:

“An increase in costs for car parking at hospitals will undoubtedly be frustrating for patients and families.

This is a complex issue which will depend on the circumstances of the individual trust and hospital.

Amber Jabbal    

“Trusts are working hard to keep charges for patients to a minimum often by offering concessions and moving away from hourly charging for patients who need to stay longer. However, this is a complex issue which will depend on the circumstances of the individual trust and hospital.

“In many cases, the trust does not own the car park on its site. Where the car park is owned by a trust there are costs to running and maintaining these facilities, and unfortunately, trusts have to recover some of these costs. However the revenue generated is mainly used to maintain the car parks, with any surplus reinvested back into wider services for patients. This funding for parking facilities would have to come from elsewhere if parking charges were removed.

Where the car park is owned by a trust there are costs to running and maintaining these facilities, and unfortunately, trusts have to recover some of these costs.

Amber Jabbal    

“Often NHS trusts are located close to town centres so these charges also ensure that parking spaces at hospitals are available for patients and their families rather than members of the public who may not be using health services.”