Parking fees which could be brought in at the county’s two main hospitals would be among the highest in the West Midlands, it was revealed today.

Hospital bosses want to axe the current £2 flat rate and replace it with a payment on exit system at both the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

The cheapest rate would be £2.50 for one hour, rising to £4 for more than four hours. But all spaces at the two hospitals would be free for 20 minutes to allow patients to be dropped off more easily.

The £2.50 charge for one hour parking would one of the highest rates across NHS Trusts in the West Midlands.

It would top the current fees at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, which has a £2 flat rate all day.

It would also cost more than New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton which stands at £1 and Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich, which charges £2.10.

Only Hereford Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham charge more for one hour parking at £3 and £2.60 respectively.

But Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust’s plan to charge a flat rate of £4 for more than four hours would be cheaper than other hospitals in the region.

Currently New Cross Hospital charges £5 for more than four hours, while Hereford Hospital charges £6.50 for five hours, which increases to £11 for up to eight hours.

Patients and visitors at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital today had their say on the proposed parking charge increase.

Christine and Barry Bliss, of Shrewsbury, said that the increase would hit the vulnerable.

Mrs Bliss said: “It is hitting the vulnerable the hardest.

“Nobody chooses to come to hospital.

“There is already a lack of space in this car park. They need to expand before they make it more expensive.”

Mr Bliss added: “It would be better if the cash was going back into the NHS but it won’t be.”

And Robert King, a regular hospital patient, from Ditton Priors, called the charges ‘ridiculous’.

He said: “I have kidney problems and when I have dialysis I am going to be paying double.

“ I live too far away for someone to drop me off. This is ridiculous.”

Patricia Florendine, from Ellesmere, said: “People will still pay but it you are coming for an appointment it is going to be expensive.

“I think they should do something on a time scale basis, but it should be cheaper- such as £1 for the first hour.”

Janet Richards, from Oswestry, who was visiting the RSH with her mother Maria Williams, said the fee increase was ‘terrible’.

She said: “What if you need to stay longer than 20 minutes to drop someone off for an appointment? It is most certainly not good news.”

The move has already been condemned by two former county health chiefs.

David Sandbach, a former chief executive at the PRH, and Ron Jones, a former director at the RSH, said he was appalled by the proposals.

Mr Jones said: “When you consider people go to hospital either to see someone who is ill or to receive treatment for themselves, to charge for the privilege seems an appalling indictment of the current position.

“Going from £2 to £4 is terrible really. They are putting it up at a time when a lot of people are finding their household expenditure increasing and their income is decreasing.”

A trust report says that parking tickets would not run out at midnight as they do currently.

It added: “Over the last five years we have worked hard to maintain our car parking charges, but we have reached the position where this cannot continue without having an impact on our other services and facilities.

“We have looked carefully at the feedback we have received from patients, and we believe that we should only increase charges if we are giving something back.”

Members of the public can e-mail their feedback on the proposals to increase charges to the trust management at consultation@sath.nhs.uk

Comments must be received by July 24.

By Catherine Ferris