Hospital raises parking charge by 60%
The cost for people to park for longer than five hours at a hospital in England is to rise by 60%, despite guidelines designed to put an end to "unfair charges".
Medway NHS Foundation Trust said the rise from £5 to £8 will allow them to increase the number of parking spaces available at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent.
In a note to visitors the trust said the increased rate, which will take effect from October 26, will only affect the 11% of visitors who use the car park for between five and 24 hours.
The charges for periods less than five hours will remain the same.
Last year Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt introduced new guidelines around hospital parking charges, saying he had concerns about the fees at some units.
More than 100 hospitals increased their parking charges in 2014-15, according to figures from the Health & Social Care Information Centre, The Sun reported.
The guidelines, stating that relatives of chronically ill patients must be given free or cheap hospital parking, set out the Government's "expectations" on the issue, Mr Hunt said at the time.
The guidance also set out for the first time that hospital trusts are responsible for the actions of any privately contracted firms they use to run car parking operations.
It also calls on hospitals to look at introducing pay on exit systems so drivers only pay for the time they have used.
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