MORE than £1.4m was paid in car parking fees by people visiting Gloucestershire hospitals last year, according to the latest figures.

Patients and visitors in Gloucestershire shelled out £1,424,991 in hospital car parking fees in 2021/22, new NHS figures have revealed.

And Liberal Democrat councillors are calling on the Government to scrap hospital parking fees altogether.

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson (LD, Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach), says the parking charges are a “tax on the sick”.

He believes the fees for patients and visitors should be scrapped during the cost of living crisis.

This would be paid for by the government instead of coming out of overstretched hospital budgets, he says.

He said: “As our hospitals are pushed to breaking point it is local people who are paying the price.

“This is a tax on people who are unwell and the people caring for them.

“People in Gloucestershire now not only have to worry about terrible waiting times and understaffed hospitals, but also whether they can even afford to visit loved ones.

“The Government should immediately provide the funding needed to scrap parking charges for patients and relatives.

“It is completely wrong that local residents have to shell out thousands of pounds to see their ill loved ones during this cost of living emergency.”

Simon Lanceley, strategy and transformation director at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the fees are benchmarked annually against other acute hospitals and public parking facilities.

“We offer parking exemptions and concessions to vulnerable patients and their families and carers.

“These apply to blue badge holders, patients who have to attend regular appointments, parents of children staying in hospital overnight and patients with particular clinical needs.

“Parking remains free for colleagues working night shifts and these parking times have recently been extended to cover the hours from 6.30pm to 10am.

“The broader question of whether or not hospital parking fees should be applied is a political decision. However, within the current system we continue to put considerable effort into supporting patients and colleagues to access our hospitals as easily and cost effectively as possible.

“We are committed to our travel to work strategy which sets out a number of alternatives to the car.

“This includes the 99 shuttlebus which directly links staff and the public to both sites as well park and ride facilities, cycle to work programme and the provision of safe and secure bike sheds and subsidised bus services across Gloucestershire for staff.

“We also continue to waiver staff parking permit costs while we review our sustainable travel approach with a view to making parking fairer and getting to work greener.”