Hospital Car Parking Charges

Jackie Doyle-Price Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House welcomes the Government’s guidance that hospital car parking charges should be fair and proportionate; notes that some hospitals are still charging patients and their visitors excessive fees of up to £500 per week; further notes that the charity Bliss has said that parents with premature babies are having to pay on average £32 per week; further notes that for many patients it is essential that they travel to hospital by car; believes that such charges affect vulnerable patients at a very difficult time; and urges the Government to consider ways in which hospital car parking fees can be reduced.

I am extremely pleased to be able to open the debate and I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for making time to discuss this important issue, which has been impacting on so many constituents up and down the country. Before I go into my arguments, I must pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who has done so much to highlight this issue and many others that directly impact on ordinary hard-working people. It is incumbent on all of us in the House, when people’s loved ones are ill or they themselves require hospital treatment, to ensure that the national health service makes the conditions appropriate for them to access the treatment that they need, and car parking charges get very much in the way of that. I reiterate that I thank my hon. Friend for his efforts to push this matter up the political agenda.

Hospital car parking charges have largely been abolished in Scotland and Wales, but that is not the case in England where 79% of hospitals continue to charge, often at punitive rates. For so many of our constituents driving to hospital is not a choice; it is essential. Many of them are undergoing treatment which means that travel by public transport is simply not an option, particularly when they have to be accompanied by members of their family. Members of their family will also wish to visit them if they have a prolonged stay, and they, too, should not be faced with punitive car parking charges. To put it simply, hospital car parking charges are a tax on NHS treatment.

[Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on procuring this debate, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on his leadership of the campaign. Does my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) agree that at the root of this—I come from Hereford, where hospital parking charges are reportedly some of the highest in the country—is a private finance initiative contract in many cases, which it is often almost impossible for the hospital in question to control? Therefore, there must be wider action to control PFI costs alongside hospitals to support the people whom we are trying to help.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend is quite right. He has done much to highlight some of the PFI contracts, the long-term consequences of which we are now having to deal with, where the contractors may have been rather more savvy in negotiating a deal that suits them rather than the patients. We must remember that the NHS should serve the interests of patients, not the providers of any contracts or services within it. I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend and I hope that the Minister will consider what more can be done to challenge some of the contracts.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady and the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on securing the debate. I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) was also involved in that.

The hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) touched on the heart of the problem. I was an ex-Paymaster General when the Coventry bid was pushed through as a PFI project. We have a magnificent new hospital, but people’s impression of it is not how good the facility is, but how high the car parking charges are, necessitated, unfortunately, by the PFI contract. Does the hon. Lady agree that the key point to put to the Treasury is that these PFI contracts are often too onerous to be sustained by the normal income that the NHS can expect a hospital to generate, and, in particular, the car parking fees built into that are too high?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. I remind Members that about 37 Back Benchers want to speak in three debates that must finish at 10 o’clock, and we must also take the Front-Bench speakers and the proposers. We need interventions to be short, pithy and to the point, and Members must be disciplined if everybody who wishes to speak is to be able to do so. Time is of the essence.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The hon. Gentleman reiterates the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman). We have all learned a lot of lessons from poorly negotiated PFI contracts. It is worth noting that in Scotland and Wales, the movement to get rid of NHS car parking charges has not been limited by those contracts, and there are ways to see those contracts through.

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

My friend and neighbour, the hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman), has already touched on the shocking situation that we have in Herefordshire, but it is made worse by the county council putting double yellow lines almost everywhere in the city. Ambulances do have to get through, but could not more be done by local authorities to ease the burden on patients?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

Absolutely. It is always a good idea for public bodies to be more co-ordinated in how they approach such matters. No hospital acts in isolation, and car parking charges are often a function of how expensive local car parking is.

I welcome the recent announcement by the Department of Health to strengthen the guidelines given to NHS trusts on the implementation of car parking charges. They include the important provision that relatives of people who are seriously ill or in hospital for a long period should also be entitled to discounted or free parking. The guidelines are clear and welcome, but they do not go far enough. It is important that the House sends a clear message to the management of NHS trusts throughout the country that punitive car parking charges are wrong and will not be tolerated.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on securing the debate; I assisted—if that is the right word—him in that. Does the hon. Lady agree that although car parking charges are far too high for a number of groups of people—my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson) and I have been campaigning for years in Coventry to get them reduced—it would take the muscle of the Secretary of State to help here, because not all car parking charges are based on PFI. There are hospitals that do not have a PFI, but those charges are built into their budgets.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. It is crucial for the Secretary of State to give clear and robust messages about what he expects from NHS trusts. This Secretary of State has probably done more in his period of office to put the patients at the heart of the NHS. We are talking about a rebalancing of the relationship between the patient and the provider. It is simply not appropriate for NHS trusts to decide their car parking charges without considering the impact that those will have on the welfare of patients.

[Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

This debate has been part of a campaign initiated by the Opposition on rip-off Britain, and I congratulate the hon. Lady and the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on getting a debate on one aspect of that. I totally welcome the Secretary of State’s guidance on this matter, but we know from our local areas that some hospital trusts will gently put two fingers up to what the Secretary of State says. I very much hope that when the Minister replies he will say what plan B is for those hospitals that continue to charge excessively those who need to continue to visit their relatives in hospital.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I humbly suggest to the right hon. Gentleman, who is not backward in coming forward in expressing his views, that it is up to us in this House to challenge the leadership of our trusts where we think they are being unfair with their car parking charges. Quite frankly, we should be prepared to make lots of noise about that when it occurs.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I would like to make a little more progress.

The guidance confirms that it is up to local trusts to decide how much and whether they charge for parking but that charges should be proportionate and concessions available. I think we have all seen many examples where charging policy could in no way be described as fair or proportionate. I make particular reference to London hospitals. The Royal Free hospital charges a staggering £72 a day. My constituency is just outside London, but when some of my constituents need to access specialist treatment they are sent to London hospitals. They travel some distance and the fact that they then have to pay punitive charges to access treatment is simply not acceptable.

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

On the ability of trusts to make their own concessions, I want to shed a glimmer of light on an example in my own Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. It is possible for relatives to buy 20 visit passes for £10, no matter how long they stay. All they need to do is obtain a signature from the ward sister. There are compassionate ways of treating families who need to make regular and sometimes long visits to hospital.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend highlights exactly the kind of initiative that we in this House would expect the local management of trusts to undertake. On having a fair charging policy, we should not have simple flat fees and expect all patients and visitors to pay them. We should be thinking about the best possible opportunities to enable patients to get better when they are being visited by their families and to access treatment without being worried about parking charges.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that NHS managers could learn from private providers, which in my constituency of Redditch provide two hours’ parking for £1.20, whereas my local hospital trust charges £3?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend has put a very important point on the record. It illustrates again that when management thinks about patients rather than managing the accounts, it can come up with solutions that are good for the patient.

We have all had many representations from individual patients about the costs they have incurred personally. We have also heard from pressure groups. In particular, Macmillan has highlighted that cancer sufferers have found parking charges to be a very costly element of their treatment, adding significantly to the financial strain for people who are going through prolonged periods of treatment. As I have said, some of them are losing considerable amounts of earnings during that process. We need to be making it easier for them to get better and overcome their debilitating illness.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friends the Members for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) and for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on securing this debate. Of course, it is patients and their families who are the main people affected by this particular issue, but does my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock agree that surely it is wrong that NHS staff, who do such an amazing job in all our hospitals, are in many cases, particularly in my area, required to pay for the parking in the area where they work, thereby reducing their own salary?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. One objection to our campaign on parking charges is that somehow the money would be taken away from health care, but I do not believe that is the case at all. He mentions staff. In order to get the best conditions for care, we need to make it easier for people to go out and work, and access to cheap parking is very much a part of that.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I would like to make a little more progress.

These charges are a tax on the sick. They hit patients and their families when they are at their most vulnerable. It is incumbent on hospital trusts and us in this House to make sure that we create the conditions for patients to have the support to aid their recovery. Simply levying high parking charges will not aid their recovery. We all know that receiving visitors will help. We should be making it easier for them to visit their loved ones.

[Alison Seabeck]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I will—persistence pays!

[Alison Seabeck]

I appreciate the hon. Lady’s giving way in this very interesting and extremely worthwhile debate. Does she share my concern that, in seeking to get profits from car parks, the issue raised by the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) about staff being sidelined or being asked to pay more is a problem? We certainly have that problem in Derriford, where staff are now finding it very difficult to park anywhere, if at all.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

Absolutely. This comes back to the issue of challenging trusts as to whether the car parking charges are fair. We have had push-back from a number of trust managers who say that it costs money to operate and maintain the car parks, partly because of some of the PFI contracts that have been mentioned. It is simply not good enough, however, for hospital trusts to pass on costs to staff and vulnerable patients when they need to be more challenging about how they manage their finances and not simply take from the patients. Nor is it enough for trusts to argue that charges are reasonable for their area. That is like writing an open cheque and allowing London hospitals to levy extremely high charges. It simply is not good enough. There is, in effect, a parking lottery in the NHS, with some patients able to access health care without any charge for parking their car, while others pay extremely handsomely for the privilege. I find that scenario completely incompatible with an NHS that should be free at the point of use.

I was shocked to discover that 74% of hospitals make more than £500,000 a year from their car parks, and even more shocked that more than 40% raise more than £1 million. I recognise that there are many reservations about the removal of car parking charges because of the amount of revenue received, but I do not buy it: I think there is lots more that hospital trusts can do to replenish any gaps that might occur in their revenue as a result of removing car parking charges.

I want to refer to my own local trust of Basildon in that regard. Some will know that Basildon has a very troubled history. It was one of the hospitals that went into special measures following the inquiry into Mid Staffordshire and it has had very high death rates. In the past year, however, since a change of leadership in the hospital trust, it has made massive advances, and it was the first to come out of special measures.

One of the things that the new chief executive has done is to recruit 200 new nurses, and in doing so she has managed to cut the pay bill because she is no longer relying on agency staff. We can all find other ways of replenishing the money that might be lost as a result of reducing car parking charges—not least, I might add, through some patients getting better quicker because they will get more visits from their families. That makes perfect sense to me.

[Stephen Lloyd]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for facilitating this very important debate. One area she has not yet touched on is the impact on built-up areas such as the one surrounding Eastbourne district general hospital. The car parking charges at the DGH are really quite high, so instead of using the car park people are parking around and about, which is making it very difficult for residents. If it is done badly, it is bad for residents—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. Short means not many words. A large number of Members are waiting to speak. The hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) has now been on her feet for 17 minutes. This is going to be a severely curtailed debate and Members will get only a minute or two unless we can start making some progress. Remember that interventions must be short if there are to be any more. I wonder whether the hon. Lady would consider, in respect to her colleagues who wish to speak, drawing her remarks to a close.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—I certainly will. My hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd) makes a very good point. I would also add that money could still be made by reducing car parking charges but enforcing action against those who should not be using the car park.

In deference to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make my comments briefer and move to a close so that other Members can speak, but I just want to reiterate this final point. The NHS is supposed to be free at the point of use, but it is not when patients who have to drive are paying through the nose. Hospital car parking charges are a tax on the sick. We should send a strong message to the managers of all hospitals that we expect them to take steps to reduce this financial penalty on the most vulnerable in our society.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I thank all Members who have participated in this debate, which, in displaying zero tolerance for punitive car parking charges, has been a rare show of unanimity. When the House reaches a consensus on such issues, it is all the more powerful.

I would like the Minister to take away the message that some examples of very bad practice have been highlighted, as well as some examples of good practice. That must be disseminated, to show exactly what we will not tolerate. Perhaps we should look more at naming and shaming trusts that are not stepping up to the plate and not doing the best for their patients. At its heart, this issue is about the relationship between patients and providers, and whether the latter are doing everything they can to put the interests of patients first. We must continue to apply pressure to ensure that they do exactly that.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House welcomes the Government’s guidance that hospital car parking charges should be fair and proportionate; notes that some hospitals are still charging patients and their visitors excessive fees of up to £500 per week; further notes that the charity Bliss has said that parents with premature babies are having to pay on average £32 per week; further notes that for many patients it is essential that they travel to hospital by car; believes that such charges affect vulnerable patients at a very difficult time; and urges the Government to consider ways in which hospital car parking fees can be reduced.