NHS hospitals made a record £174 million in the last year, up 6% on the year before, from charging patients, visitors and staff for car parking, according to an investigation by the Press Association.
120 NHS trusts across England were asked to give figures on parking charges and fines under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, of which 111 responded.
The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Heartlands, Solihull and Good Hope Hospitals, came out on top when it came to parking income, making £4,865,000 across the year.
A spokesperson from the Heart of England NHS Trust, said: “We are a large trust covering three hospital sites with 11,000 staff. We see over one million patients and a similar amount of visitors and relatives each year.
“The Trust does not take any form of profit from car parking charges as the funds are used to fund capital charges, utility costs, security and car parking management services, as well as the upkeep, maintenance and investment in the car parks which includes CCTV systems, grounds, and road safety.
“We recognise that parking charges can be a very significant financial burden for some and so we offer discounts to anyone visiting our hospitals for more than one day, giving frequent visitors greater savings, and free car parking to those in receipt of income-related benefits.
“We also offer a wide range of discounted multiple day tickets, including passes for those attending on a regular basis to particular wards.”
A total of 40 trusts also provided data on parking fines, showing they made £947,568 in 2016/17 from fining patients, visitors and staff on hospital grounds. This was up 32% on the £716,385 taken by the trusts the year before. The investigation found that half (56) of NHS trusts also charge disabled people for parking in some or all of their disabled spaces, with more trusts now saying they charge disabled visitors compared to last year.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health, said: “Patients and families should not have to deal with the added stress of complex and unfair parking charges. NHS organisations are locally responsible for the methods used to charge, and we want to see them coming up with flexible options that put patients and their families first.”
