Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust made more than £1 million from parking charges
Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust made more than £1 million from parking charges in the year to March, new figures show.
The GMB union, which represents many NHS staff, said it was "perverse and grotesque" to force them to pay to park at work.
New figures released by NHS England show Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received around £2.6 million from parking charges across its various sites.
This was made up of £2.4 million from charging patients and visitors, and £121,000 from staff.
Across England, trusts received £271 million from parking charges, a 12% increase on 2023-24.
At Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust income from parking increased by 16% from £2.2 million a year earlier.
A spokesperson for the Trust said: “Staff at Bedfordshire Hospitals are charged £2 a day to park on-site. Staff working night shifts or those with a blue badge, are not charged for parking. Due to the cost of commercial leases for five of our car parks which are not owned by the Trust together with the cost of administration and security, the Trust does not make a profit on staff car parking.”
The data also shows the cost of administering NHS car parks rose by 9 per cent, a slower rate than the income they generated.
Nationally, the NHS spent £84 million administering parking, giving it a total net income of £187 million.
Sharon Wilde, national officer at the GMB said: "Health workers deal with punishing workloads and chronic understaffing – they need help and support.
"Paying to park while performing vital, lifesaving work feels like the ultimate kick in the teeth."
Managing parking cost Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust a total of £706,000, meaning overall it gave it a net income of £1.9 million.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said local trusts are responsible for car parking space numbers, rates for parking and charging methods, but all parking charges should be "reasonable for the local area."
They added: "Free parking is available for those in greatest need, including all NHS staff who work overnight.
"While hospital car park charges are the responsibility of individual NHS trusts, we expect all charges to be reasonable and in line with the local area".