One in three hospital trusts raised parking fees last year, typically by 10%, amid fresh calls to end the “tax on the sick”.
Parking netted hospitals a record £254.4million, up 10% on the previous year, data from 144 NHS trusts in England showed.
And parking added to the stress of a hospital visit, 86% of 7,883 car park users told a survey.
Unison leader Dave Prentis said: “Ratcheting up parking charges isn’t how cash-strapped NHS trusts should be tackling their funding problems.
“No nurse, porter or other NHS employee should be fleeced simply for going to work.”
One patient said he spent over £102 visiting his wife and others called the charges a rip-off, too expensive and exorbitant.
Labour ’s manifesto vows to scrap all hospital parking charges. The Tories say parking will be free for those in greatest need, including the disabled, parents of sick kids staying overnight and night shift staff.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “These car parking charges are a tax on the sick, their families and hard-working NHS staff.”
The Mirror is campaigning to end the charges. Manchester University Foundation Trust took the most last year, £6.35million, followed by University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust, £5.88million, and University Hospitals Of Leicester Trust, £5.03million.
Only England’s hospitals routinely charge for parking. Car parks are largely free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A spokeswoman for the Patients Association said: “Charges for car parking at hospitals are a charge on people who are unwell. We believe that patients should not be effectively charged for being ill. Practical arrangements to prevent car parks being used by other motorists can and should be installed.”
A survey revealed patients and visitors often struggle to find spaces, experience a lack of disabled parking, long queues and faulty parking meters.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said: “All charges for parking cover the day-to-day running of car parking at the hospital, with any surplus reinvested back into wider services for patients.”
She added that abolishing parking charges could cost around £200million per year, and trusts would have to find funding from elsewhere, which could “impact on patient care”.
