Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure free parking is available on NHS properties for people donating blood.

NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for blood donation in England. The majority of blood donation sessions take place in third party venues, which are typically not National Health Service properties. NHS Blood and Transplant aims to secure venues with donor parking and only in very exceptional cases would donor parking not be available. Blood donation venues must fulfil essential criteria to ensure the safety and availability of donors, as well as the smooth running of donor sessions.

Where free parking is not offered, this is usually due to venue constraints in that location. If a donation session is co-located to a paid municipal car park, NHS Blood and Transplant works with the council to secure free parking through a voucher system. Mobile blood donation sessions are held in NHS buildings, which can include hospital premises. In these cases, NHS Blood and Transplant works with trusts to secure free parking although this is a decision made locally by each trust.