NHS car parking charges ‘must be scrapped’, union says

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By Daniel Pye

NHS car parking charges, which cost staff £79 million a year, should be scrapped, a union’s annual conference heard.

Delegates at the GMB Congress in Blackpool backed a motion calling for parking spaces to be free at all NHS premises.

Members heard NHS staff are treated differently depending where they work, with some paying for fees, some stuck on waiting lists for a space, or parking streets away and walking back late at night.

Nahira Khan, GMB member, told the annual conference: “NHS staff should not have to pay simply to turn up for work.”

While every staff member plays a part in keeping the NHS moving, “too many are being charged before their shift has even started,” she added.

GMB represents a wide range of allied health professionals and cleaning, admin, security and catering staff, but the union confirmed that the £79 million figure also includes doctors.

The union has a had a long-running campaign to end NHS parking charges.