Hampshire hospitals make £5.6m through parking charges

An investigation revealed bodies running hospitals across Portsmouth, Southampton and the wider Hampshire area took in £5,627,255.

The fees were raised by charging patients, visitors and staff for car parking, with two sites in Portsmouth and Southampton also charging disabled visitors.

Figures collected by the Press Association revealed that hospitals across England made a record £174,526,970 in parking charges from 2016/17, up six per cent on the previous year.

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Cosham’s Queen Alexandra Hospital made £646,000 in charges, the same as the previous year.

While Hampshire Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust raise £1,252,255 in fees.

However, University Hospital Southampton generated £3.73m.

The Liberal Democrats have branded the national results as a ‘tax on the sick’.

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said: ‘The vast sums of money that hospitals are making from parking charges reveal the hidden cost of healthcare faced by many patients and their families.

‘Hospital car park charges amount to a tax on sickness, with people who are chronically ill or disabled bearing the brunt.’

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the current state of NHS finances meant it was sometimes hard to blame hospitals for trying to find money. But she said that did not make the current situation acceptable.