Patient groups have reacted with fury to the coalition government’s refusal to scrap car parking charges at hospitals, and they claim that the charges are just a ‘tax on illness’.
Government ministers are set to give each hospital trust the power to make a decision on whether they will continue charging patients and their relatives for parking. The parking charges raise over £110 million every year, with four hospitals taking over £1 million each from the unpopular scheme.
Cancer patients, who have to pay parking charges, make around 53 trips to a hospital during treatment and many find this a huge financial burden. Recent surveys showed that 90 percent of Britons want cancer patients to receive free hospital parking. Currently there is no charge to park at hospitals in Scotland and Wales while in Northern Ireland cancer patients get free parking. In England, a cancer patient could be landed with charges of more than £300 just for parking during the course of their treatment. The coalition government insist there has been no U-turn because it was not they who pledged to axe the fees. The fees are also stopping relatives from visiting sick family members. Some are forced to car share and park away from the hospital to avoid the charges, but this could lead to claims on their car insurance as the surrounding streets are not as secure.
Health minister, Simon Burns, said “For a long time we have been unconvinced that Labour’s car parking idea was properly funded and practical. We will publish a response soon and all decisions will be subject to the spending review. Andy Burnham himself was forced to retreat from his initial commitment on hospital car parking and even some members of his own party didn’t support his proposal. That said, it is clear that where parking charges are preventing friends and family from visiting, then hospital trusts have a responsibility to respond.”