‘Unfair’ hospital parking rules set for reform

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt plans an overhaul of “unfair” hospital car parking, after admitting last month he had concerns about the fees being charged at some hospitals.

Relatives of chronically ill patients will be given free or cheap hospital parking, while patients with disabilities, those with frequent appointments and hospital staff will also benefit.

Conservative backbenchers have pressed him to put an end to “rip-off” costs, and Mr Hunt now says hospital trusts are – for the first time – responsible for the actions of any privately contracted firms they use to run their car parking operations.

We need to scrap hospital car parking charges completely because they are a stealth tax. Conservative MP Robert Halfon, reform campaigner

Under the changes, trusts should waive fines when an overstay is beyond the control of the driver, such as medical treatment taking longer than planned.

The reforms also call on hospitals to consider introducing pay on exit systems so that visitors only pay for the time they have used.

Mr Hunt said: “Patients and families shouldn’t have to deal with the added stress of unfair parking charges.

“These clear ground rules set out our expectations, and will help the public hold the NHS to account for unfair charges or practices.”

Long overdue?

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who has led a campaign for reforms, told the BBC the move was a “massive step forward” but insisted that charges should be axed altogether in the future.

“In the long term I think we need to scrap hospital car parking charges completely because they are a stealth tax,” he added. “It was never envisaged that people with cars should be subsidising the NHS.”

The core principle of the NHS is to provide free healthcare for all at the point of access. Duleep Allirajah, Macmillan Cancer Support

But bringing an end to charging would cost the health service about £200m, which could be funded by savings from switching to generic versions of branded drugs, he said.

Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne welcomed the move to ease the burden on patients and visitors, but said: “The Tory-led government scrapped Labour’s plans to phase out car parking charges for patients, and Jeremy Hunt needs to take responsibility for the fact that, since then, one in four hospitals have increased parking fees.

Duleep Allirajah, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said some cancer patients in England “are paying extortionate hospital car parking charges in order to access treatment for a life-threatening illness”.

“The core principle of the NHS is to provide free healthcare for all at the point of access,” she added.

“Hospitals must not ignore government guidance and commit to implementing the guidelines as a matter of urgency so that cancer patients do not continue to pay unfair hospital parking charges.”