A CONTROVERSIAL hike in the price of parking at York Hospital has been branded a “tax on the sick” by patients’ campaigners.

More than 4,000 people from across York, Selby and North Yorkshire use the hospital’s 180-space car park every week and now they’ll be paying £1.70 an hour, 20p an hour up from the previous £1.50 rate.

The increase has been criticised by campaigners and a hospital governor, who both say it is wrong to charge the sick, or those visiting, particularly during the worst economic crisis in a generation.

Richard Smith, a patients’ representative at the hospital, said: “It’s a very expensive car park and I think it’s wrong to make it more expensive than it already is. I would say it’s a tax on being sick. It really is a tax on the ill.”

Anger over rise in parking fees

“IT’S a tax on the sick.”

That is how the increase in parking charges at York Hospital has been described by a patients’ representative.

The hospital has put the cost of parking in the on-site 180-space car park up by 20p per hour from £1.50 to £1.70 at a time when the country is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation.

Richard Smith, a patients’ representative at the hospital, said the inflation-busting increase was a disgrace.

He said: “It’s a very expensive car park and I think it’s wrong to make it more expensive than it already is. I would say it’s a tax on being sick, it really is a tax on the ill.”

A spokeswoman for York Hospital said parking charges are linked to the planning consent given to the new car park in that the hospital reflects any increase in charges that the council implements.

She said: “The revenue from car parking funds the running and maintenance of the car park, and also pays for security on the site. We appreciate the current economic situation may be having an impact on patients and visitors. However the hospital is not immune to this and needs to ensure it can cover the cost of providing parking onsite. There are a large number of concessions available for people who are visiting regularly or for long periods of time.”

But the arguments have cut no ice with Mr Smith.

He pointed out there were several council car parks in York that were cheaper than the hospital and the way in which it is run means people have to guess how long their visit will be. They could pay for four hours, only spend one hour in the hospital and not be able to get a refund.

Car parking charges for hospital staff have also recently been increased to £1 a day and 60p for up to five hours.

Coun Madeleine Kirk is a hospital governor. She too thought that the charges were too expensive.

She said: “I’m not in favour of parking charges, although I understand the financial constraints the hospital is under. They still have to maintain the car park and the money for that has to come from somewhere.

“But my feeling is that it’s inappropriate to charge people who are sick or coming to visit the sick.”

She also said the hospital should have taken into consideration the fact that although some council car parks charge £1.70 per hour, others charge less.

She said although the hospital does offer concessions for certain people, these are not widely advertised.

The concessions include free parking for close relatives called in to critically ill patients, and next of kin attending a dying relative.

In addition reduced rates apply for patients attending for treatment over a protracted period, partners of women in labour, resident parents in the children’s ward, and visitors to patients who have been in hospital for more than 14 days. Blue Badge parking for people with disabilities is free of charge.

The hospital car park saga

THE hospital has been working towards a new car park for more than a decade, but has been dogged by a series of problems.

Work was initially due to start in 2005, but a sub-contractor went into liquidation.

The hospital was then forced to reapply for planning permission because it wanted to move the car park by 30 metres from the site initially proposed. Then the Press revealed that APCOA Parking had signed a contract with the hospital to build a new, 420-space multi-storey car park. Work was supposed to begin in September, but in January it was announced that APCOA had been hit by the economic crisis and reconsider its options. The original deal had meant they would have invested £5.25 million in the car park and recouped their costs from the parking charges.