Car parking prices have risen at more than four in 10 NHS hospitals in England in a year, an investigation has highlighted.
Some 124 NHS trusts responded to Freedom of Information requests by the Press Association.
It has been established that some trusts have doubled the cost of a stay for patients and visitors car parking.
Tom Sandford, director of the Royal College of Nursing in England, said: “Nursing staff work around the clock to keep patients safe – they should not be overcharged for doing their jobs.
“For staff working shifts public transport is often not an option, so nurses and support workers have no choice but to pay parking charges that rise year on year.
“Struggling hospitals should not try to make money from their staff. Their goodwill won’t last forever. Trusts should provide reasonable car parking with affordable charges.”
Data published by NHS Digital in October shows NHS trusts made more than £226m from parking fees, including penalty fines, in the last financial year.
Several hospitals defended the charges, saying some or all of it goes back into patient care or maintaining car parks.
Others claim their size and the fact that they serve busy areas means they take more revenue.
The PA investigation reflected that, of the 124 NHS trust responses, 53 (43%) said they had increased prices in the last year for visitors or staff, or both.
Meanwhile, 71 (57%) said they had not put up their prices this year.
Labour has pledged to abolish the costs while the Patients Association said people should not be “charged for being ill”.
The analysis also revealed that:
- At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in West Yorkshire, a stay of four to 24 hours cost £8 in 2017/18, up from £3.50 the year before. The trust made £1,287,322 from parking in 2017/18.
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool has scrapped its £2 flat rate for a full day and introduced a raft of new charges - tripling the cost of a stay longer than eight hours.
- At Shrewsbury and Telford, an investigation into of parking charges has seen the cost of a five-hour stay more than double since October last year to £8.
- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has also doubled the price of a stay of four to six hours over the last year, from £3 to £6. A stay of two to four hours has also spiked from £3 to £5.50.
- Frimley Health in Surrey made £4,452,481 from charging staff, patients and visitors in 2017/18. This was up on the £4,126,587 it made the year before.
- University Hospitals of Leicester made £4,421,862 from parking in 2017/18, a 13% rise on the £3,880,587 the year before.
- North Bristol Trust, which made £2,565,595 from patients, visitors and staff in 2017/8 - up on the £2,521,741 the year before - also hiked rates in 2017/18.
While NHS trusts in England still enforce hospital parking charges, the fees have been abolished across Wales and most of Scotland.
Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Judith Jolly said the charges are tantamount to “taxing the sick”, adding: “While it is clear to all that hospitals are struggling to cover their costs against a backdrop of financial pressures and overcrowding exacerbated by the Tories, that is not a green light to charge patients.
“Car park charges are not the answer to the pressures on our hospitals.”
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said parking charges generate revenue at a time when hospital finances are “under immense pressure”.
“Charges for car parking at hospitals are a charge on people who are unwell, levied on them because they are unwell,” she added.
“We believe that patients should not be effectively charged for being ill.”
Dr Moira Fraser-Pearce, director of policy and campaigns at Macmillan Cancer Support, urged people to check what discounts were available for cancer patients.
She said: “Cancer can have a significant impact on people’s finances and if they have to pay to park at hospital in England, these charges can add considerably to this – especially for those undergoing treatment on a daily basis.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “We have made it very clear that patients, their families and our hardworking staff should not be subjected to unfair parking charges.
“NHS trusts are responsible for these charges and ensuring revenue goes back into frontline services, and we want to see trusts coming up with options that put staff, patients and their families first.”