Pendle Liberal Democrat comments on hospital parking fees

Published on Wed 4th Nov 2009

The latest Government announcement by Andy Burnham of vague commitments that could see free car parking for in-patients at NHS hospitals has angered Afzal Anwar the Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Pendle.

Parliamentary Candidate Afzal commenting on the latest Health Minister's announcement said, "The amount of money the NHS is making from car-parking charges is staggering. Many hospitals are essentially operating a tax on the sick."

"But it's difficult to take Andy Burnham's pledge seriously when he has completely failed to say where any of the money needed to pay for this would come from."

"This announcement hasn't been thought through. The sad reality is that many Trusts and NHS hospitals will simply increase car-parking charges for outpatients and hard-working doctors and nurses to cover their shortfalls."

"Rather than making vague unfunded commitments, Andy Burnham would be better off making sure that all hospitals actually comply with the current rules by offering discounts to staff and free parking to patients with chronic illnesses."

The Health Minister has announced that in-patients will get a permit to cover the length of their stay which visitors could use to park for free.

But campaigners said the move did not go far enough as in-patients, who tend to require the most complex care, only represent a fraction of total patients.

Afzal said, "I applaud the government for recognising the high cost to families visiting relatives in hospitals. But I am disappointed that they have ignored the same high cost of parking charges to those cancer and chronically sick patients having treatment as out-patients."