Hospital car parking charges: Damned if they do and damned if they don't

Critics say it is a punitive tax on the sick, but hospital trusts have defended their charging policies saying they pump the revenue back into care and hospital services.

While some politicians use this annual “figure-fest” opportunistically for their own agendas, it is often the hospital leaders who are left to run the gauntlet of upset and stressed family members opposed to such hikes in charges.

And whenever the matter of charging disabled parkers is raised, the debate can become very toxic and even more emotional.

There are no easy answers. Newspapers have often talked of “financial blackholes” when it comes to hospital finances. At times it seems never ending amid the Tory austerity measures.

But when they try to cut that deficit with increased parking revenue, we all cry foul. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

It’s up to us all to scrutinise how that money is spent and is simply not to line the pockets of white collar penpushers.