Hospital car park charges to increase

The car parking charges will increase by 50p in August

Car parking prices at some hospitals in West Yorkshire will increase to help pay for other services, a health trust has said.

Visitors and patients at Pinderfields in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals will pay 50p extra on top of current charges, Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust said.

While very short visits and drop-offs are free, as well as no charges for blue badge holders, an hour of parking will cost £2.50 from 1 August.

The trust said: "We’ve had to look at how we can increase our income in some areas so that we do our best to avoid reducing costs in other areas that may directly impact on patient care."

'Under pressure'

The increased charges will bring the trust in line with other hospitals in the region, it said.

A message on the trust's website said: "We know finances are tight for everyone at the moment.

"Unfortunately, the NHS isn’t immune to that: like many other trusts our budgets are under pressure.

"Despite it costing us more to maintain our car parks, we’ve managed to avoid increasing our charges for the last five years, and this small increase will make us similar to other NHS trusts in the region."

The new parking charges are:

• Less than 20 minutes - Free

• Up to 1 hour - £2.50

• 1 to 2 hours - £3.30

• 2 to 4 hours - £5.50

• 4 to 24 hours - £7.40

People who need to use the hospital for an extended period of time, such as for days at a time, can apply for a concessionary rate.

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