Families hit just when they need most support- hospital car parking fees must be scrapped
BRAIN injury charity Headway has been inundated with complaints from patients ripped off by sky-high hospital parking charges.
A couple paid more than £1,500 in parking fees alone
The parents of a 27-year-old man who suffered a heart attack while running last March paid more than £1,500 in parking fees alone.
They were paying the maximum daily rate of £16.40 at Leeds General Infirmary, where charges start at £2.90 for two hours and jump from £14 for seven hours to the top rate.
Headway made a £300 contribution after 15 weeks and obtained a free permit only after approaching the chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
In another case, a single mother was paying £10 for four days while making a daily 60-mile round trip to visit her 21-year-old son at the Royal Sussex County Hospital who was injured in a car crash.
Luke Griggs, Director of Communications at brain injury charity Headway
She was not initially made aware of reductions for cancer and long-term patients, but was later told there was a concessionary rate of £31 for a month’s parking and received £250 from Headway.
Headway communications director Luke Griggs said: “Every day we hear from desperate families struggling to meet the costs of hospital parking.
“Charging people at a time when they are shocked, bewildered and vulnerable, compounds their burden when they need support the most.”