Hospitals: Parking

(asked on 28th February 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England have introduced (a) free parking and (b) concessionary rates for (i) visitors of relatives who have an extended stay in hospital and (ii) carers of such people since 2014.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 8th March 2018

The information is not collected in the format requested.

National Health Service car parking data is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). All ERIC data is published at:

http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp

The 2016-17 figures show that out of 1,043 hospital sites that have designated disabled parking, 132 charge for disabled parking which includes disabled people, people with temporary disabilities as well as Blue Badge holders.

The table below shows the latest ERIC car parking data for 2017

2016-17

Parking spaces available (Number)

452,379

Designated disabled parking spaces (Number)

23,660

Average fee charged per hour for patient/visitor parking (£)

1.32

Average fee charged per hour for staff parking (£)

0.19

Do you charge for disabled parking (Yes/No/None)

Yes

132

No

925

None

110

Total

1,170

The Patient Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE) system assesses the quality of the patient environment. It is a voluntary self-assessment which takes place annually, and applies to hospitals, hospices, and day treatment centres providing NHS funded care. PLACE includes questions on car parking relating to the charging, concessions, and payment methods, including “Does the organisation provide car parking charge concessions?”:

Total responses = 391

Yes = 346 = 88%

No = 45 = 12%

All PLACE data is published at:

http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/PLACE.asp

The Department published clear guidelines (the car parking principles) for NHS organisations that they are expected to follow. However, the provision of parking spaces and the level of any charges are matters for individual NHS trusts. NHS organisations must have the autonomy to make decisions that best suit their local circumstances.

Details of charges, concessions and additional charges should be well publicised including at car park entrances, wherever payment is made and inside the hospital. They should also be included on the hospital website and on patient letters and forms, where appropriate.

As the guidance makes clear, hospitals should put concessions in place for those who most need help including disabled people, carers and staff who work shifts. The NHS itself is responsible for ensuring that charges are fairly applied. Patients, visitors and staff who have problems with car parking should therefore contact the NHS organisation which runs the car park.

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