If you get injured or rapidly fall ill the chances are you will have to pay your local accident and emergency department a visit to receive immediate care.
Many are left with no option but to drive themselves or have a friend, relative or loved one transport them to their nearest hospital – and analysis has revealed that in many cases this can turn expensive.
A review of A&E department parking charges in England found that some car parks across the country are demanding daily fees of up to £77 if you are unlucky enough to need to leave your vehicle on the premises.
The survey looked at A&E specific parking where available, or if not at general hospital car parking rates.
A&E parking pain: Some hospitals are charging patients and visitors up to £77 to park for a day at an accident and emergency ward
The analysis has been conducted by car leasing company, Hippo Leasing.
The review follows December figures that showed that in 2019 hospital parking charges brought in more than £254million of revenue for the NHS last year – the highest it has generated from drivers on record.
At the same time, stats also showed that every major A&E unit in England failed to meet waiting time targets of up to four hours.
Patients were forced to wait in emergency departments for longer than they have for 15 years, the figures suggested.
With extended waiting periods and expensive hourly parking rates, an increasing number of patients and visitors are opting to pay a daily rate rather than continuously nip out to top up the meter or facing being stung with penalties if caught overstaying their pre-paid periods by automatic number plate recognition cameras policing some car parks.
They also face a steady crackdown ion parking in roads close to hospitals, with most having resident-only parking that can cover much of the day.
However, hospital daily parking charges can be steep, Hippo found after reviewing the daily fees at 154 A&E wards in England.
London has the most expensive daily A&E parking charges. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust demands a fee of £77
The most expensive is Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital car park in central London, which demands a massive £77 to leave a vehicle for 24 hours.
In fact, the list of the top 10 most expensive A&E car parks is dominated with London hospitals.
The Whittington, in Highgate, is £72 a day and the Imperial College London is £52.80.
Only the Sussex Community hospital, Luton and Dunstable University Hospital and Portsmouth Hospitals Trust made the list of the most expensive daily rates outside of London.
A spokesperson from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust told This is Money it was unlikely that people would use the car park for a full day.
‘To ensure our car parking spaces remain available for our patients and are not misused by members of the public visiting central London, the £3.20 hourly cost of parking at St Thomas’ Hospital is in line with local parking facilities. The site is also very well served by local public transport links,’ they added.
‘The car park serves the whole of St Thomas’ Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital, not just our Emergency Department.
‘We use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to make sure that people only pay for the exact time they use the car park, avoiding the need for patients to pay a higher daily charge. We also offer a discounted rate of £5 per day or £25 for seven days in certain cases.
‘This could include when someone visits one of our long-term patients on a daily basis. Disabled badge holders attending an appointment with their appointment letter and their valid disabled badge on the day are offered free parking.’
Of those studied, most on-site A&E car parks also charge a daily rate for any period over six hours, leaving motorists with little choice
The Whittington hospital, in Highgate, North London, is second on the list of priciest daily A%E parking fees at £72
Outside of London, the A&E department at Sussex Community (pictured) and Luton and Dunstable University hospitals are the most expensive at £20 a day
Expensive hospital parking isn’t just hitting people financially. A recent survey by PA Media of patients and visitors found almost nine in ten (86 per cent) thought parking added to the stress of a hospital visit.
When it comes to free A&E parking, only seven hospitals were found to offer this to patients and visitors no matter the length of their stay.
However, 72 out of the 154 hospitals studied do offer free ‘drop-off’ parking ranging from under 10 minutes to up to an hour, allowing people to find cheaper parking elsewhere.
Boris Johnson’s Conservative manifesto ahead of the December General Election pledged to tackle unfair hospital car parking charges by ‘making parking free for those in greatest need, including disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts’.
It added: ‘This will eliminate costs for those in need, while making sure there are enough spaces for everyone.’
Tom Preston, managing director at the vehicle leasing firm said: ‘The rising cost of hospital parking has become a big talking point recently, with politicians weighing into the debate during the election.
‘The news that A&E departments are also failing to meet their four-hour waiting time targets has only added fuel to the fire.
‘With longer waiting times, many are forced to pay for daily parking charges instead of per hour.
‘Hippo Leasing’s study into parking at A&E centres specifically, highlights the costs patients and visitors can expect if parking on-site in different parts of the country.’
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