Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS hospital in England has the highest parking charges for (a) patients and (b) visitors for one day of parking.
The information requested is not collected centrally.
National Health Service car parking data is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC).
All ERIC data for all trusts in England is published at:
http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp
The table below shows the latest ERIC car parking data for 2017.
|
| 2016-17 |
Parking spaces available (Number) |
| 452,379 |
Designated disabled parking spaces (Number) |
| 23,660 |
Average fee charged per hour for patient/visitor parking (£) |
| 1.32 |
Average fee charged per hour for staff parking (£) |
| 0.19 |
Do you charge for disabled parking (Yes/No/None) | Yes | 132 |
No | 925 | |
None | 110 | |
Total | 1,170 |
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 NHS organisations that they are expected to follow. The guidelines are available at the following link:
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.