Shropshire hospital chiefs insist staff parking fees fair

The reassurance comes amid a national row over lower-paid health workers being charged high rates to use hospital car parks.

Research by the union Unison revealed that many NHS trusts operate a flat-rate payment system for parking regardless of how much staff are paid.

However, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) said that more senior members of staff pay more than the hospital's lower earners.

The highest-earning members of staff, including consultants and surgeons, currently pay £25 a month to park at the hospitals.

The lowest-earners pay £7.50 per month while the middle ranks pay £15.

A Freedom of Information request from Research by Unison found that the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the top chargers, with full-time staff paying £85.38 a month to park at the Royal Free Hospital site.

Others, including the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust, are charged £79.50 a month.

Responses from 199 trusts across Britain also showed that some, such as SaTH, offer discounted parking for staff on lower wages, or did not charge healthcare workers to park.

Unison's head of health Christina McAnea criticised the amount some workers are having to pay.

She said: "Health staff are struggling to get by on a pay rise well below the cost of living and these extortionate fees are an extra tax on their wages.

"Many NHS staff work shifts so they have to drive because they can't get buses or trains in the middle of the night.

"Health workers in rural areas, where public transport is virtually non-existent, are entirely dependent on their cars to get to work.

"Others have to fork out for expensive permits with no guarantee of a space when they get to work. The Government should be guaranteeing fair parking charges for all health employees, and the NHS should stop making money off the back of its dedicated workforce."

A community therapist in Derbyshire told the union: "I have paid over £1,000 for a space that I don't always use, in a car park with potholes, poor lighting, no CCTV and where cars are damaged regularly." A health worker in South Derbyshire said: "I've been on the waiting list for a car park pass for over three years. I have to arrive an hour before my shift to find a place on the street to park, which costs me £4 a day."

Figures revealed in a recent Freedom of Information request show that in 2013/14 members of the public paid £977,567 to park at SATH's hospitals, while staff paid £311,738.

In 2014/15 the public paid £1,057,320 and staff £427,436, with the corresponding figures for 2015/16 being £1,029,292 and £496,448.

Earlier this year the trust said its parking charges were among the lowest in the country, with the money raised being reinvested in the hospital.