Revealed: Staff must now pay to park at five in six hospitals

Only around 15 per cent of England’s 140 acute and specialist trusts are still offering free car parking for staff, HSJ analysis has found.

The research found just 21 acute and specialists trusts are not charging staff to park at work, or are only charging a small number (see box below for what HSJ classified as “free parking”).

It means the large majority have reinstated staff charges since the peak covid period, when it was made free nearly everywhere, under a government-funded scheme. The central funding ended in April 2022.

The research reveals for the first time that around 100 trusts then brought back charges in the first year it was not funded, 2022-23. Then a further 20 trusts reintroduced charges last year, or plan to in the near future.

Trusts which had recently reintroduced the charges, which are hugely unpopular with staff, told HSJ it was no longer financially viable, and said they needed to reduce pressure on “dangerously” busy car parks.

But Unison said the reintroduction of staff parking fees was a “shortsighted move” with many employees having to drive to work due to location.

The Union’s head of health Helga Pile said government and trusts needed to work together on transport “to avoid this issue pushing more employees away” from the NHS.

The NHS is also supposed to be encouraging a shift away from cars in its efforts to reach net zero by 2045.

NHS Providers said trust leaders were aware many staff wanted free car parking to continue after the pandemic.

But CEO Sir Julian Hartley said: “Trusts are under huge financial and operational pressure and may be unable to provide free parking for staff without more national funding or by taking money from already stretched budgets for patient services.”

He said hospital car parks in city centres and other urban areas – where space is at a premium – were facing particular challenges.

HSJ also looked at community and mental health trusts and, overall, across the 207 total trusts excluding ambulances services, just over a third now have free staff parking. 

But the vast majority of those were community and mental health trusts, whose sites tend to have far lower footfall and much less demand for parking. 

Why some trusts have opted to keep free parking

HSJ analysed official NHS data and contacted all trusts in England for their position on staff car parking. Around 15 per cent of acute and specialist hospitals said it remained free, with a number saying this decision remained under review.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust said the decision was taken not to reintroduce charges to support staff during the cost of living crisis.

The same reason was given by Princess Alexandra Hospitals Trust, as well as supporting staff who mainly have to park a short walk from the main site to prioritise spaces for patients. Onsite staff parking is also free.

Dartford and Gravesham FT said an internal assessment found reintroducing charges would not be financially beneficial and “could lose an element of staff goodwill”. 

Where parking charges have been implemented, these are often based on salary and can be free for the lowest paid staff.

Reintroduction 

Some trusts said it was not financially sustainable to keep free staff car parking after holding off the reintroduction of charges.

Mid and South Essex FT plans to bring back charges for staff next month. The trust’s CEO Matthew Hopkins has said it would “continue to face significant losses” if it carried on absorbing these costs, in a letter to local MP Jen Craft, obtained via freedom of information request.

The letter said: “We recognise that the reintroduction of permits and charging will cause some concern in the short term. However, we have a responsibility to all our staff to keep them safe while they are on our sites.”

Mr Hopkins said upkeep costs were considerable and investment into lighting and CCTV was also needed. MSEFT added that its hospital sites had become dangerously overcrowded with cars.

Royal United Hospitals Bath said staff had been struggling to find space to park on a busy site.

Some said it would bring their services in line with others in the region. Others said the reintroduction of charges would help pay for maintaining car parks, or providing sustainable alternatives.

This includes Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust which said it did not take the decision lightly. Its car parking fees range from £45 a year for bank only staff to £360 a year for the most senior managers.

Availability of spaces

NHS leaders said charges were only one part of the problem, with one estates director stating staff were more likely to complain about lack of availability rather than the cost of onsite parking.

Unison’s Ms Pile also said there was often no guarantee staff who managed to get a permit would find a space to park.

The Department of Health and Social Care said hospital car parking charges were the responsibility of individual trusts, but free parking was available to overnight staff, and charges must be reasonable and in line with the local area.

The department added: “Any revenue is used to maintain car park facilities and surplus income is put back into the NHS.”

DHSC said NHS England was working on a revised car parking policy. NHSE had not commented at the time of publication.