The cost of hospital parking- £95m

NHS hospitals were yesterday accused of exploiting the "most vulnerable" after they were found to have made more than £95 million in parking charges last year. Patients attending for treatment and relatives or friends visiting people in hospital were charged up to £3.50 an hour despite paying to build car parks through their taxes.

Last night, the cancer charity Macmillan, which obtained details through Freedom of Information, called for an end to the "shameful" charges. Two trusts each raised more than £2 million and a further 30 raised more than £1 million each from "outrageous charges on the weak and vulnerable''.

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust took £2,414,672 and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust took £2,263,297.

Patients and visitors often have no choice but to use hospital parking, which used to be free. Some out-patients are too weak to walk further from their car and many of those who visit in-patients are themselves elderly or infirm.

The charity Macmillan Cancer Support Research raised the parking issue yesterday on behalf of cancer patients who have to make regular hospital visits. It said the £95 million total was shocking.

Judy Beard, Macmillan's acting chief executive, said: "Cancer patients spend hundreds of pounds each year on hospital parking. Macmillan wants to see all cancer patients travelling regularly for treatment to be able to park free.

"It's shameful that cancer patients are still paying to park at hospital. The Government should step in and introduce stronger regulations."

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "It is disgraceful that the NHS should exploit the most vulnerable people. It is totally wrong to take money off people who have to attend hospital and those who visit them.

"We would like to know what happens to this money. Is it ploughed back into patient care or is it used to make car parks safer for staff?"

Patient watchdogs and MPs have called hospital parking fees a "tax on sickness".

The £95 million does not tell the whole story because 74 trusts supplied no figures.

Hospitals have also started to charge for bedside telephones and television sets and many have replaced charity-run cafes with more expensive cafeterias.

From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/20/nhs20.xml

The issue of ad hoc NHS charges was raised on July 19, 2006 in Health Select Committee finds the system of NHS health charging is a mess as the House of Commons Health Select Committee in it's report on health charges finds that the system of health charges in England is a mess.

Charges for prescriptions and dentistry have been in place for over 50 years and sight tests for almost 20 years. They have not been introduced following detailed analysis of their likely consequences; rather they have come about piecemeal, often in response to the need to raise money. There are no comprehensible underlying principles. The charges remain largely for ‘historical’ reasons.

In recent years, hospital patients and their visitors have also had to pay increasing sums for non-clinical services, such as car parking and bedside telecommunications. International research has shown that health charges have a negative effect on health, and that patients with long-term illnesses suffer particularly when charges are in place.

There is also some survey-based and anecdotal evidence which suggests that patients are less likely to visit their dentist or have prescriptions dispensed in full because of the costs.

The House of Commons Health Select Committee report also looked at other NHS charges and stated:

The recommendations will not address the fundamental problems in the current system of health charges. Little work has been done in this country on the costs or benefits of the different possible systems.

This work needs to be done urgently so that an alternative charging system, with consistent underlying principles, can be developed. The Government should undertake a major review to assess the costs and benefits of the following:
• abolishing all the existing health charges;
• abolishing only the prescription charge;
• abolishing only charges for initial consultation and diagnosis, such as dental check-ups and eye tests;
• establishing a system of reference pricing for medicines;
• completely revising the medical exemptions to the prescription charge;
• introducing a flat-rate prescription charge with no exemptions; and
• basing exemption to charges solely on income so that those who can afford to pay for their prescriptions, dental care and sight tests do so.

The review should also consider a system of charges appropriate for future challenges. In the future, the NHS may not be able to pay for every possible medical treatment in a country with an ageing population, demographic pressures, rising public expectations and increased possibilities of medical treatment and long-term therapies.