Rotherham hospital made almost £600,000 from parking charges last year

Data shows that in 2023, NHS Trusts in England collectively generated £145.9 million from parking charges – a 50 per cent increase from the prior year.

Visitors and patients to Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust forked out £599,659 in the financial year 2022/23 – a 180 per cent increase on the previous year (2021/22).

During the pandemic, hospital parking was free for NHS staff and local authorities and private providers also offered free parking to health and social care staff. Charges in England were reinstated in April 2022.

Current NHS guidance, set in 2022, states that disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts can park for free.

NHS Trusts should also ensure fees are “reasonable for the area”.

At Rotherham Hospital, concessions are available for Macmillan cancer patients, those attending frequent outpatient appointments, parents staying overnight with their children on a ward, and family members or carers who have a relative or dependent in the hospital for a period longer than seven days.

Parking charges start at £2.70 for up to an hour at Rotherham Hospital.

Linda Martin, interim director of estates and facilities at the Rotherham Hopsital Trust, said: “The Rotherham Hospital’s Trust has maintained unchanged parking fees for staff and patients since August 2019.

" During the Covid pandemic, all charges were temporarily suspended by government directive and reinstated in May 2022 at the existing tariff, with no subsequent increase.”