Hospitals: Parking

(asked on 1st March 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of NHS hospitals in England which have introduced free parking or concessionary rates for staff who car-share since 2014.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 8th March 2018

The information requested is not collected centrally.

National Health Service car parking data including the number of NHS hospitals that charge for disabled car parking is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC).

All ERIC data is published at:

http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp

The 2016-17 figures show that out of 1,043 hospital sites that have designated disabled parking, 132 charge for disabled parking which includes disabled people, people with temporary disabilities as well as Blue Badge holders.

The provision of parking spaces and the level of any charges that are made to use them are matters for individual NHS trusts. NHS organisations must have the autonomy to make decisions that best suit their local circumstances.

Details of charges, concessions and additional charges should be well publicised including at car park entrances, wherever payment is made and inside the hospital. They should also be included on the hospital website and on patient letters and forms, where appropriate.

The Department published clear guidelines (the car parking principles) for National Health Service organisations that they are expected to follow. The guidelines are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

Hospitals should put concessions in place for those who most need help including disabled people, carers and staff who work shifts. The NHS itself is responsible for ensuring that charges are fairly applied. Patients, visitors and staff who have problems with car parking should therefore contact the NHS organisation which runs the car park.

The NHS trust remains responsible for the actions of any private contractor they may employ to manage their hospital car parking service.

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