Epsom and St Helier University Hospital Trust in Surrey earned more than £1.8 million from car parking fees in a single year, according to a revealing report on parking charges levied on hospital visitors published today.
Which?, the consumer association, has named and shamed the worst NHS hospital car parks in England based on information obtained through 126 different Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for the year 2008/09.
It found that the Epsom and St Helier NHS trust clamped 1,671 cars in 12 months, while Leeds General Infirmary, part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, issued more than 10,000 fines, generating £142,000 in profit.
The FOI requests also showed that Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, in Enfield, Middlesex, has the highest minimum charge at £4 for 2 hours parking. Royal Derby Hospital received 82 complaints in a year, the most of any hospital.
Which? has rated hospitals from best to worst against criteria based on capacity, convenience of payment methods, frequency and type of penalties, charging structure and profits, and communication with patients.
The best NHS hospital car park was the Royal United Hospital in Bath, followed by the North Devon District Hospital.
Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which? said: “Royal United Hospital, Bath shows that not every hospital visit needs to end in a parking nightmare. Now we know which hospitals are scoring badly, they must take action and improve their parking services.
“Visiting hospital is stressful enough without having to worry about being clamped or getting a ticket. Surely this is now the end of the road for the worst hospital car parks?”
In previous research released earlier this year, the consumer association found that car parks at hospitals made visits more stressful for almost half of all respondents. In the survey of over 1,000 adults, more than 70 per cent said they had experienced problems with an NHS hospital car park, such as lack of spaces, high car parking prices or confusing payment systems.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The car is often the best, and sometimes only, way for people to get to hospitals, and managers need to understand the reality of the way people get about. Patients don’t go to hospitals out of choice, but because they have to.
“When people attend hospital for treatment or to visit a patient, the last thing they need to worry about is car parking. Anything that unduly adds to the stress of such occasions needs to be seriously reviewed.”