THE THORNY issue of wildly differing hospital parking tariffs has attracted much media attention of late. Reports have also suggested that some NHS Trusts are using parking charges to generate revenue, causing added stress to those visiting hospitals. Leeds NHS Trust, the UK's largest, has countered that for many hospitals there is a fundamental problem of too few parking spaces for staff and visitors. The trust's deputy head of logistics Bob Bilton says: "Our view is that the cost to provide parking services to staff patients and visitors should be fully funded from the income for car parking. Monies intended for patient healthcare should not be used to subsidise car parking services. We also believe that car park charges need to be competitive with other car park operators in the area, otherwise we would attract non-hospital users."
展开▼
