Hospital parking charge hike 'barrier' to patients

Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group said it had made improvements at Lincoln County Hospital car park

Patients are being punished by the recent rises in hospital car park prices, councillors have said.

Parking increases introduced on 1 July at hospitals in Boston, Grantham and Lincoln mean stays of up to four hours have risen from £2 to £5. Stays of up to 30 minutes remain free of charge.

One East Lindsey councillor said patients were being "charged for being ill", while another described the charges as a "barrier for people to access the hospitals" at a Lincolnshire County Council health scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday,

Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) said the price rises were "in line with other acute hospital trusts".

Under the new pricing scheme, one and two-hour parking charges rose by £1, to £2 and £3 respectively.

The charge for up to three hours doubled from £2 to £4; and stays of more than four hours cost £6.

Parking remains free of charge for blue badge holders and motorcycles.

During the meeting, attended by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Jill Sanders, an independent councillor in East Lindsey, said: "People from eastern Lincolnshire have poor bus services to get to hospital.

"I really regret that people are being charged for being ill...I don't think it's right."

Last year, visitors to a Boston hospital complained of "cars queuing everywhere" due to parking issues

Karen Lee, a Labour councillor, said the charges were "creating a barrier" for people accessing hospital treatment.

"I think we need to know what the money is going to be used for because it's particularly difficult to park at all of the hospitals at the moment."

The trust claimed its hospital car parks had been improved in recent years.

However, Lee said she did not "feel an awful lot of money has been spent on improvements".

Mark Parkhill, LCHG's chief estates and facilities officer, said: "The decision was based on several factors, including the need to raise funds for further car park improvements."

He said improvements at Lincoln County Hospital included 120 additional spaces, and had prevented staff from parking in public car parks.

Mr Parkhill said his teams had seen a reduction in concerns over parking availability and planned to introduce more parking spaces.

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