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NHS hospitals are creation up to �1.85m a year each in distinction from charging patients and their family groups to make use of their car parks, and from clamping and arising fines, a inform has found.
In England, each sanatorium decides how majority it wants to assign for parking, and the sum lifted is some-more than �100m a year.
A investigate of 126 NHS trusts and hospitals in England found Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in Surrey done the majority income from the car park, creation �1.85m in 2008-09 and clamping 1,671 vehicles.
Leeds General Infirmary (part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust) released 10,330 fines, generating �142,000. Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust in Hertfordshire had the top smallest assign �4 for dual hours of parking.
The consumer organisation Which? wrote to 172 NHS organisations utilizing the Freedom of Information Act and 126 responded. Hospital car parking is free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In Sep last year Andy Burnham, who was Health Secretary, voiced that sanatorium car parking charges for in-patients and their visitors would be scrapped inside of 3 years, but the bloc Government has no stream plans to lift that through.
A mouthpiece for the Department of Health pronounced the issue was still being looked at.
She added: "We cant be in foster of decentralisation and larger liberty for NHS and afterwards discuss it them how to run their car parking.
"But the transparent that, where parking charges are creation it formidable for staff to do their jobs properly, where they are deleterious patients" entrance to services, or where they are interlude friends and kin from visiting, they are as well high, and sanatorium trusts have a shortcoming to see at those factors."
Professor Stephen Glaister, executive of the RAC Foundation, said: "The car is mostly the best, and infrequently only, approach for people to transport to hospital, and managers need to assimilate the being of the approach people get about.
"If a certitude contingency assign for parking and needs to compute in between patients, visitors and staff, afterwards there are most ways to do this.
"It is utterly probable for bona fide patients and visitors to play ground free whilst alternative car users compensate a in accord with amount."
Laura Keely, campaigns physical education instructor at Macmillan Cancer Support, pronounced the normal cancer studious trafficked 53 times to sanatorium and outlayed �325 on car parking charges.
Which? declared the Royal United Hospital Bath the most appropriate NHS sanatorium car play ground in England for charity patients, their friends and family a large series of priority spaces as well as a preference of remuneration methods.
Which?s arch executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, said: "Visiting sanatorium is stressful sufficient but carrying to be concerned about being clamped or removing a ticket. Surely this is right away the finish of the highway for the misfortune sanatorium car parks?"
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