North hospitals cash in over £9m in parking charges

Aug 9 2009 by Tom Mullen, Sunday Sun

HOSPITALS in the North have raked in more than £9m from car parking charges in just two years.

Shock figures reveal how much the region’s hospitals are making from people seeking medical attention or visiting loved ones.

Visitors and staff at 13 hospitals forked out the £9m, condemned as a “tax on the sick”.

Nine hospitals raised more than £500,000 each over two years, and two more than a million.

And it is safe to say the figure could be even more shocking, as four hospitals only provided data for one year. Patients’ families and politicians have condemned the policy of charging for car parking, which is still common place despite Scotland and Wales banning the charges.

Billy Peebles, of Deckham, Gateshead, who has spent the last three years taking his 16-year-old daughter, Patsy, who has Multiple Sclerosis, to Newcastle General Hospital for treatment, says the trips have cost him hundreds of pounds.

Patsy became one of the youngest people in the UK to be diagnosed with the condition and needs constant scans and other check-ups.

The 41-year-old said: “I think it’s disgusting. It’s about a pound an hour and when Patsy was an inpatient, I would have to park overnight and that was nearer £10. It should be scrapped.

“And it’s not just visitors who are suffering, it’s staff. Imagine how you’d feel if you had to pay to park your car at work?”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said: “This is a staggering amount for the NHS to be making from car parking charges.

“Many hospitals are still not offering real discounts to those with chronic illnesses and are effectively operating a tax on the sick.”

In total, hospitals in our region raised £9,896,502 over the tax years 2006-7 and 2007-8.

The University of North Tees hospital provided the biggest figure, £1,628,835, followed by York District Hospital with £1,534,509.

Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle General Hospital and the city’s Freeman Hospital only provided figures for one year.

Assuming these hospitals charged roughly the same in both tax years, it would take the total figure way beyond 10 million.

Hospital trusts, however, are united in defending the charges, which they say fund security guards, CCTV, lighting and training for staff.