Hospital car parking charges will be scrapped for thousands of people, the Government announced last night.
Blue badge holders, frequent outpatients, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts will no longer have to pay to park at hospitals.
The changes, which were a part of Tory manifesto pledges , are expected to come into place from April.
All 206 hospital trusts in England will be expected to offer free car parking to groups of people who are unfairly affected by parking charges.
It is unclear how much the move will cost, but government officials say the Treasury will refund NHS trusts for any income lost by the cut in parking fees.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This month millions of people put their trust in this government to deliver.
“One of the concerns mentioned regularly on the doorsteps was that vulnerable people, and staff working nights, have to pay for hospital car parking.
“So we are today delivering on our manifesto commitment and setting out our new approach to NHS hospital parking charges.
"Currently, the situation varies from hospital to hospital. Instead, from April, across the country, those with the greatest need – such as disabled people, parents staying overnight with sick children in hospital, and NHS staff working night shifts – will no longer have to pay for parking.”
Under existing rules, NHS trusts have to make their own car parking arrangements - and any cash raised from charged has to be spent on frontline healthcare.
However, the charges have left some NHS staff shelling out thousands of pounds a year to park at work, with frequent hospital visitors also being stung by parking fees.
The Mirror reports that the annual amount paid to park at hospitals has soared to £272million, with much of it going to private firms operating car parks for NHS trusts.
The average hourly rate has risen 13% in five years to £1.35.
Despite anger over the charges, the Tories did not pledge to tackle the issue in their 2017 manifesto.
A 2018 Commons motion by Tory Robert Halfon calling for the fees to be scrapped was backed by more than 100 MPs, but the Government refused to take the issue forward.
