Hospital parking charges defended

PARKING charges at the Royal Oldham Hospital are up to six times less than those charged in some hospitals across the country.

The claim came from Pennine Acute Trust, which runs four hospitals, including the Royal Oldham, in defence of a call for parking charges to be scrapped.

The charges — branded a stealth tax on the sick, were this week ditched at Scotland’s hospitals.

And Pennine Acute Trust was named as eighth highest in England for car park charge earnings — last year raking in a massive £1.5 million.

A spokesman for the trust said its overall income was among the highest because it was one of the largest trusts in the country and had a large number of car parking spaces.

He said: “Department of Health data has shown that the hourly rate for visitors’ parking at the Royal Oldham compares very favourably to that charged at many other hospitals across the country.

“In fact, some hospitals charge more than six times the hourly rate of the Royal Oldham.”

The spokesman explained that income from parking charges paid for security guards, floodlighting and CCTV in the car parks, as well as maintenance and enforcement, to benefit patients, visitors and staff.

Car parking spaces are scarce at the Royal Oldham Hospital, and plans are in the pipeline for a multi-storey car park, but a planning application has not yet been made. Current charges for parking at the trust’s hospitals — the Royal Oldham, Rochdale Infirmary, North Manchester General and Fairfield, Bury, are £1.70 for up to four hours, £3.50 for four to 10 hours, and £5 for up to 24 hours.

Regular visitors can pay £9 for a 7-day ticket.

Parking charges were introduced at the Royal Oldham 15 years ago.

The UK Independence Party says England should follow suit with Scotland and abolish parking charges. North-West MEP John Whittaker said: “These are not places people attend for fun.”