Parking fees earn millions
West Midlands hospitals are raking in millions of pounds a year in parking fees from patients and visitors, new figures reveal today.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Heart of England NHS Foundations Trust raised more than £1 million each from charges.
Several others pulled in hundreds of thousands of pounds each from the fees.
Cancer charity Macmillan, which obtained the data through Freedom of Information, called for an end to the "shameful" charges, while other campaigners accused hospitals of exploiting the "most vulnerable".
The figures show NHS trusts across the country made a staggering £95m from parking fees in 2005/06 – up £17m on the previous year – with some pulling in more than £2 million each.
Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust was among the few trusts who failed to send in their details in time.
Patients and visitors often have no choice but to use hospital car parks – many of whom are are elderly.
Macmillan raised the parking issue on behalf of cancer patients who have to make regular hospital visits.
Judy Beard, Macmillan's acting chief executive, called for free parking for cancer patients whom she said spent hundreds of pounds each year on charges.
"It's shameful that cancer patients are still paying to park at hospital.
"The Government should step in and introduce stronger regulations," she said.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said it was "disgraceful that the NHS should exploit the most vulnerable people" and demanded to know what happened to the money made from parking fees.
But a spokesman for the Department of Health defended the charges and said they discouraged people not using the hospitals from taking up the parking spaces.
The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust made £903,985; Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust took £536,000; Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust made £426,252 and Birmingham Women's Health Care NHS Trust raked in £285,282.
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