Express & Star comment: Fairness the key for hospital car parks

At a time when the National Health Service is under such tight financial constraints any additional source of revenue for hard-pressed hospital trusts is welcome.

But for the patients and their families and the hospital staff who have to fork out to park there it is a source of much displeasure.

Different trusts have varying policies on how the charges are applied and what the money that is raised is used for.

Critics, including unions, the Patients Association and the British Medical Association, have deep misgivings about the charges.

Unite, which represents around 100,000 health workers, has described the near £157 million raised in 2017-2018 – including more than £11m in the West Midlands – from fees and fines as ‘scandalous’ and slams the fees as a “tax on hard-pressed” employees.

The BMA opposes the plugging of financial gaps by charging and imposing fines on staff and the patients’ body sees fees as a tax on people for being unwell.

Areas around many hospitals also suffer from people wishing to avoid parking charges leaving their vehicles on residential streets.

It is unlikely that the criticism will stop the practice of charging for car parking at hospitals, particularly given how profitable these car parks seem to be.

Realistically parking facilities are needed and the car parks must be properly maintained.

No one can fairly criticise the use of profits from charges being used to keep the parking areas up to standard, we wouldn’t money earmarked for health services used. It should also help and provide more spaces at hospitals with shortage of parking.

What is needed is for trusts to spell out precisely what the money generated from parking is used for.

Given the huge sums involved, the Government also needs to keep a close eye on the issue and ensure that parking charges are not allowed to be raised unnecessarily.

It is important that patients and staff are used fairly and not simply milked for more funding.