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Main Content: Hospital parking charges to be phased out
Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP today made a second major announcement which will affect carers when he pledged that hospital parking charges for in-patients in England will be phased out over the next three years.
He said that, "When people are coming into hospital, the last thing they want to worry about is keeping the car parking ticket up to date. But, for families of the sickest patients, the costs can really rack up."
He pledged that patients would be given a permit for the length of their stay which friends and family could use when visiting.
Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy & Public Affairs, said:
"We welcome this announcement, which will help carers who are struggling to pay car parking charges, on top of the other costs they face as a result of their caring responsibilities. It will particularly help people who have to visit people in hospital frequently, such as parents of disabled children.
Ideally we would like to see all car parking charges abolished for in-patients and out-patients, as they have done in Wales, but this is a very welcome first step which will benefit thousands of families."
Carers UK has raised this issue for many years, working with other organisations like Contact a Family.