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'Two-thirds' think hospital parking too expensive

11/03/2010

Parking at NHS hospitals can be a "nightmare", a consumer group has claimed, demanding that the Government step in and resolve the "problematic experience".

Which? says that parking charges and the challenges of finding a space are among the frustrations experienced by those visiting hospital by car. In a survey of 1,001 people conducted by the organisation, 70% of those who had used an NHS car park over the last two years said they had experienced frustration.

Two-thirds (67%) said that parking was too expensive, while half (52%) had had difficulty finding a space. In addition, visitors complained that payment systems can be confusing.

The association has previously used Freedom of Information requests to assess the profit made from parking charges levied by 23 of England's "busiest" healthcare trusts. It claims that some hospitals profited from their car parks by as much as £1 million in 2008/09.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith described the survey results as "outrageous", and called on the Government to "fix" the system.

"Visiting hospital is stressful enough and people don't need the added burden of battling with the parking system," he added.

A Government consultation on hospital parking, launched last December, came to a close in February. A Department of Health spokesperson told the Guardian that the responses were being analysed and that the results would be published "in due course".

"We want to make sure that we get the best solution to providing fairer hospital car parking to all patients," she added.

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