Hospital car parking fees would be scrapped under Labour, pledges Jeremy Corbyn

Car parking fees at hospitals in England will be scrapped under a Labour government, party leader Jeremy Corbyn announced today.

It comes a month after union Unison revealed figures obtained under Freedom of Information requests showed some NHS nurses have to pay nearly £90 a month in fees.

Speaking to nursing students at the University of Worcester today, Mr Corbyn said: ‘Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff. Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

Struggling

‘Our hospitals are struggling from underfunding at the hands of Theresa May’s Conservative government, but the gap should not be filled by charging sick patients, anxious relatives and already hard-pressed NHS staff for an essential service.

‘Our NHS needs a Labour government that will stand up for the many, not the few.’

Labour said it would fund the estimated £162 million – the amount raised by parking fees – policy by increasing the Insurance Premium Tax to 20% for private healthcare insurance products.

‘Completely immoral’

Unite union national officer Sarah Carpenter said it would give NHS staff ‘extra money in really tough times’.

‘Charging cash-strapped health visitors, community nurses, biomedical scientists, porters, plumbers and electricians, already hit by seven years of pay freezes and cuts, to park was completely immoral.

‘Unite has long argued that there should be parity across the UK. Scotland and Wales don’t charge their NHS staff for coming to work and this should be the same in England.’

However, spokespeople for the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives questioned the ability of Labour to deliver on the policy.

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