Call for hospital parking charges to be scrapped

A local political candidate has called for parking charges at Shropshire and Telford hospitals to be scrapped after it emerged they made £3 million out of them in the last year.

Alison Alexander, the Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrat candidate for the Welsh Parliament, said the charges impacted on patients from Newtown who had to travel to the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal hospitals for appointments.
 
Her calls come in response to the news that hospitals in Shropshire made almost £3 million from charging for parking in the last year. £705,903 alone was from charging staff to park.

Commenting on the news Alison said: “I just think it’s absolutely disgraceful that hospitals continue to profit off of people’s suffering. For those with long-term illnesses, it adds an unnecessary level of stress to what is already a traumatic point in their lives and these costs although small at first glance, soon add-up for repeated trips.” 

“While for people who live closer to Shropshire’s hospitals may find it easier to use public transport to access hospitals, this simply isn’t the case for most Newtown residents or those from rural parts of the County.” 

“This isn’t even to mention the immorality of charging our hard-working NHS staff, many of whom travel from Newtown, for merely going to work. Our NHS always go above and beyond, often working long and traumatic shifts even for the pandemic.” 

Parking charges were temporarily suspended at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with the Department of Health and Social Care providing funding to NHS trusts to cover lost revenue but are set to be reintroduced.