PATIENTS, their families and staff paid more than £3 million in parking charges at the John Radcliffe last year, new figures have revealed.

It was among the largest figures raised in the country and a rise of more than £1 million in three years.

Hospital bosses have defended the move and say the money is put back into services but senior politicians have called parking charge a tax on the sick.

Following an FOI request, the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [OUH] has revealed it made £3,228,301 from visitors and patients to the John Radcliffe Hospital in the 2016/17 financial year.

This is a surge of nearly £400,000 on 2015/16 takings which were £2,821,444 and £2,214,378 in 2013/14.

Labour MP for Oxford East Anneliese Dodds told the Oxford Mail she would welcome the end of parking charges at hospitals but only if the NHS didn’t lose out on funding overall.

She said: “I think we should welcome trying to remove parking charges.

“In Oxford one of the biggest problems is capacity rather than the cost. It isn’t just the cost here.

“If the Government said we are not going to have more parking charges but not put money into the NHS it would be very harmful overall.”

Oxford Mail:

The Headington hospital has 1,601 parking spaces reserved for hospital staff and 730 for patients and visitors.

Visitors are given 30 minutes free parking and must then pay £1.40 for one hour with price increases for every hour thereafter. After four hours motorists must pay a flat fee of £7 for the rest of the day.

As well as the money generated from parking charges, the trust also revealed it made £42,616 in parking fines in 2016 compared to £44,878 in 2015.

Liberal Democrat and MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran said: “Of course I want to see more reasonable parking charges at our local hospitals but what is really needed is for the Government to come up with a fair, long-term funding settlement.

"It is only when the NHS has the funding it needs that it won't need to make money for services through hospital car parks."

She was echoing the call of Norman Lamb MP, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, who said: "The vast sums of money that hospitals are making from parking charges reveal the hidden cost of healthcare faced by many patients and their families.

"Hospital car park charges amount to a tax on sickness, with people who are chronically ill or disabled bearing the brunt.”

The capacity for parking at the hospital has previously come under fire and the hospital trust already warns visitors to allow one hour to find a parking space.

This will increase to two hours once the next phase of Oxfordshire County Council’s £12.5 million road improvement project Access to Headington gets under way near to the hospital entrance in January.

Oxford City Council, meanwhile, previously ruled out alleviating pressure on the car park by building a new multi-storey car park on the site, with current rules claiming it would encourage more motorists to clog up the already busy roads.

City councillor for Headington and liberal democrat Ruth Wilkinson said: “Parking charges are levied in most hospitals across the country, and I think the public needs to know how that money has been spent.

“We are asking the trust for a breakdown on who is using the car parks and reasons why they chose to bring a car.”

The hospital trust says that all money generated from parking charges is returned back to the hospital and is used for ‘patient and visitor services’.

Defending its charges OUH spokesperson Matt Akid said: "All money raised by car parking charges on our hospital sites is reinvested in our services to benefit patients – this is not a commercial money-making operation.

"If parking was free, the spaces would most likely be used by people who are not visiting our hospitals which in turn would disadvantage patients, visitors and staff who would be unable to find parking spaces."

He added that disabled Blue Badge holders and patients who have visited over an extended period of time could park for free, as well as cancer patients and those who need regular kidney dialysis.

The figures were obtained after some 120 NHS trusts across England were asked to give figures on parking charges. The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, which covers Birmingham and Solihull, came out top when it came to parking income, making £4,865,000 across the year.