It is time to finally end the NHS parking stealth tax

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“Patients and their families should not have to deal with the added stress of unfair parking charges,” Jeremy Hunt, the then health secretary, said in 2014. His words were the latest in a long line of promises made by politicians to either abolish or limit the impact of hospital car parking charges.

In 2009, the Labour government pledged to abolish them within three years, but lost power the following year. It remains Labour’s policy to scrap the charges. The coalition government, which began its austerity programme in 2010, said that ending the fees was not a priority.

The Conservatives have largely left the issue up to individual NHS trusts who argue that reducing charges would divert money from already squeezed frontline services, and insist the revenue raised either improves healthcare or parking facilities.

The government’s attempt four years ago to encourage trusts to act fairly has now been exposed as a flop.

Figures obtained through freedom of information requests reveal that 43 per cent of NHS trusts in England raised their parking charges in the 2017-18 financial year. Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in West Yorkshire increased the cost of a stay between four and 24 hours from £3.50 to £8, while a stay of 2-4 hours rose from £3 to £5. The trust raised £1.3m from the charges. Frimley Health in Surrey received £4.5m, up from £4.1m the previous year. University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust made £4.4m, up 13 per cent, with the cost of a 2 hour stay rose from £2.50 to £2.80.

NHS trusts in England raised an estimated £226m from parking charges in 2017-18, including penalty fines, with £157m raised from patients and visitors and £69m from staff, for whom public transport is sometimes not an option if they work unsocial hours. Some nurses pay £1,000 a year in parking costs.

In June, Theresa May promised an extra £20bn a year for the NHS in England by 2023. Surely, this is the moment when it could find the £200m a year need to abolish car park charges – or, at least, make a start by freezing them and then phasing them out.

In Wales, charges were scrapped in 2008, and the last fees disappeared in September. In Scotland, charges at most hospitals were scrapped in 2008, although they remain at three funded under the private finance initiative.

If the devolved administrations in Cardiff and Edinburgh have the good sense to abolish the charges, why should they remain in England? Guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care four years ago said relatives of people who were seriously ill or had a long stay in hospital should benefit from free parking or reduced charges.

Concessions should also be offered to people with disabilities and NHS staff whose shift patterns meant they cannot use public transport. But the guidelines are “non-mandatory” and it has since emerged that more than 100 hospitals do not either offer concessions or display them prominently. At the Royal Surrey, a £4 daily parking charge was introduced for disabled “blue badge” holders who could previously park for free. According to the survey, the hospital has the highest charges for other users at £4 an hour.

Although there is support among MPs in all parties for scrapping fees, their attempts to achieve the goal through private members’ bills have been blocked. Government action is needed.

The Tories take pride in their reputation for cutting taxes. It is now time to abolish a stealth tax imposed on the sick and their relatives at a stressful enough time.

The move would have the added bonus of helping hardpressed NHS staff, who are still catching up after years of pay restraint. It would help the Tories claim they are committed to an NHS free at the point of delivery, the pledge by the health service’s founding fathers 70 years ago, which remains a core principle today. It is most definitely not free for those hit by ever-increasing parking charges.