MP Paula Sherriff has blasted a hospital trust for making millions from charging patients and staff to park.
The Dewsbury MP hit out at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust after it was revealed that the trust earned almost £1m last year in parking charges.
The trust, which runs Dewsbury District Hospital and hospitals in Wakefield and Pontefract, made over half of the cash (£549,000) from its staff.
Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust, which manages Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, made £1.3m in charges, a third (£423,520) of which was paid by employees.
Ms Sherriff said it was time hospital trust stopped ‘ripping off’ patients and staff.
The Labour member said: “If the trust can afford to spend millions on management consultant fees then they can afford to treat their staff, patients and carers with respect and stop ripping them off.”
Ms Sherriff has been urging Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust (MYHT) to drop its parking charges for disabled drivers.
The trust says it is currently reconsidering its policy.
Ms Sherriff said: “The amount of money that the trust is collecting from hospital parking is alarming and the whole process needs to be reviewed. I have opposed the introduction of disabled parking charges since they were introduced in the summer.
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“I am pleased that Mid Yorkshire Trust has agreed to carry out an investigation on the impact of missed appointments following the introduction of charges but I still have grave concerns on how these charges are affecting all hospital users.
“The most vulnerable should not be hit by these excessive charges. Recently a Private Members Bill was debated in Parliament to allow free parking for carers. Disgracefully this got ‘talked out’ by the Conservatives through a procedure known as ‘filibustering’ meaning the bill never went to a vote.
“I am also very concerned about the hospital staff who are already working under very stressful conditions and yet are still forced to pay for parking. I heard of a recent incident where a staff member was fined £50 for parking whilst displaying a permit – all because the staff parking area was full and they were forced to park in the visitors’ car park.”
