Newsroom Archive

When the increases were announced in October, Telford & Wrekin Council condemned them as a “tax on visiting the sick”. The Council has now written to the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) and MPs about the “unjustifiable increases.”

The new charges are as follows:

•Up to two hours - £3 (20% increase)

•Up to three hours - £4 (33% increase)

•Up to four hours - £5 (66%)

•Up to five hours - £6 (100% increase)

•Up to 24 hours - £8 (128% increase)

Cllr Arnold England, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Health and Wellbeing said: “The Department of Health’s own guidance* to NHS trusts says charges should be ‘reasonable for the area’. 

“The rate of inflation is 3% and in Telford the average salary is around 22 and a half thousand pounds. 

“SaTH has tried to justify these new charges by saying they will encourage better flow and increased availability. But the Department of Health’s guidance states ‘national planning policy … no longer recommends the use of car parking charges as a demand management measure to discourage car use.’

“Visitors have struggled to find anywhere to park at the Princess Royal Hospital, resorting to parking on grass verges which, at times, have been the only spaces available.

“These are unreasonable and unjustifiable increases. They will not help the parking situation, they go against the Department of Health’s guidance and they financially punish people who need to visit hospital during an inevitable difficult and stressful time.

“The Government should fund our NHS properly so that Trusts don’t need to resort to trying to prop up their finances by charging for car parking. We call on these increases to be withdrawn immediately.”

*NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles