Nurses fork out £46.6m to park at work as fees soar
Posted 03 January 2024 - 14:30
The government has been criticised for not fulfilling its pledge to crack down on unfair hospital parking fees as costs for nurses and other NHS staff soar
Nurses and other NHS hospital staff forked out almost £47 million to park their cars at work in 2022-23, up more than 830% from the previous year, new figures suggest.
Eightfold increase in hospital parking fees for NHS staff
Hospital car parking fees paid by staff increased more than eightfold in a year, with hospital trusts’ gross income from staff parking rising from £5.6 million in 2021-22 to £46.6 million in 2022-23, according to NHS England’s estates return information collection data.
The increase was due to parking charges, which were scrapped for NHS staff during the pandemic, being reintroduced in March last year. Across last year, it equated to staff in England spending a collective total of nearly £128,000 a day in hospital car parks.
Meanwhile, patients shelled out £146 million in 2022-23, up 50% compared to the previous year (£96.7 million).
The Liberal Democrats called the payments a ‘tax on caring for hardworking NHS staff’. The party’s health and social care spokesperson Daisy Cooper added: ‘This Conservative government is utterly failing to deliver on their promise to crack down on unfair hospital parking fees, and people are literally paying the price.’
Parking costs take up too much of nurses’ low wages, says RCN
Under current guidance in England, people with disabilities, those who frequently attend outpatient appointments, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts should be able to park for free. Trusts should also voluntarily ensure fees are reasonable for the areas they are in but can decide how much they charge.
The Liberal Democrats called on the government to work with trusts to lower fees and introduce a ‘visiting and caring fund’ to support NHS staff, patients and visitors with parking costs.
RCN director for England Patricia Marquis said: ‘For nursing staff and support workers, the soaring cost of parking takes too much of their low wage. Nurses work around the clock to be there for their patients – and working odd shift times or in difficult locations means public transport is not always possible. District nurses even pay their own fuel costs to travel to patients.
‘The government and NHS must rethink – leaving nursing staff out of pocket just for doing their jobs is wholly unfair.’
DHSC says it provides free hospital parking for those who need it most
The Department of Health and Social Care said the government had delivered on its commitment to provide free hospital car parking for those most in need.
‘As of October 2022, all trusts that charge for car parking have fully implemented this commitment. This is the first time that free hospital car parking in England has been made available to those who need it the most,’ a spokesperson added.
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