West Hertfordshire Hospitals raised millions of pounds from parking charges

West Hertfordshire Hospitals raised millions of pounds through charging staff, patients and visitors to park in 2019-20, figures reveal.

NHS Digital data shows West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust made around £2.1 million through parking charges and penalty fines in the year to March 2020.

Of that, £1.4 million was paid by patients and visitors, while £708,496 was raked in through charging staff to park.

The trust has three hospital sites - Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Watford - plus an outpatient physio unit in Abbotts Langley and a procurement service at Welwyn Garden City, car parking fees, when applied, are the same across all sites.

The trust said that staff do not pay by the hour, their contribution is 0.96% of their salary.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has not charged patients or visitors since the start of the pandemic, and parking remains free for staff and patients.

A trust spokesperson said: “We have not charged patients, staff or visitors car parking fees since the start of the pandemic.

"Parking remains free for everyone accessing our sites and services. We do not make a profit from parking fees.

"They are used to cover the cost of providing parking facilities, such as the staff who manage the parking spaces, help visitors and ensure that people park appropriately. Income from parking also covers the maintenance of our car parks; ie lighting, land and other overheads.”

Across England, NHS trusts raised £289 million from parking charges – nearly a third of which came from staff parking, generating £90 million over the year.

The figures represent the gross income earned by the NHS and do not take into account its own costs for providing car parking.

Workers are losing £2 or more from their pay packet every hour at the most expensive car parks nationally, the data shows.

Trade union GMB said it is "sickening" that nurses, midwives and cleaners in many trusts across the country have had to shell out money to park at their place of work, as it called on ministers to scrap parking charges for workers altogether.

GMB said charging NHS staff to park at work is "disgraceful".

Rachel Harrison, the union's national officer, said: "Government cuts have inflicted a heavy toll on the NHS, but trusts should not be clawing that cash back by charging the people we rely on to keep us alive."

The Government announced last year that it would cover the costs of providing free car parking to NHS staff working in hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it said the scheme would end in all but "certain circumstances" as the pandemic eased over the summer.

Patients' rights campaigners the Patients Association said while billing people to park at NHS car parks is a "charge on people who are unwell," it provides much-needed income for trusts at a time when their finances are under pressure.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "In March, the Government committed to making hospital car parking free for NHS staff for the duration of the pandemic and is providing additional money to NHS trusts to cover the cost of implementing this.

"Any surplus income generated from hospital car parks not used to fund the provision of car parking, such as security and maintenance, must be reinvested into frontline care."

But greater clarity on the overall funding pot for free staff parking is needed, according to NHS Providers, which represents trust leaders.

In a briefing to MPs, the organisation said it is "vital" that trusts receive enough funding to pay for the measure to enable them to maintain services and put money into frontline services.

It added that some trusts had already reinstated charges for workers to ensure there were enough spaces for staff and patients as people avoid public transport during the pandemic.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust offers some concessions for patient parking - when parking charges apply - click here for more details.