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Thanks to you, we’ve had some success across the UK but we still need your help to scrap these charges for good in England.
Following the NHS car parking consultation, the coalition government decided not to fulfil a pledge made by the previous government to phase out car parking charges for in-patients. They want individual hospital trusts to come up with their own car parking policies. They also decided not to provide further help for out-patients.
Following this decision, we wrote to Andrew Lansley and all hospitals in England asking them to offer free parking to cancer patients.
Read our letter, and what people had to say about the government’s decision| (PDF, 130kb)
We are using the responses to our letter to research car parking costs at hospitals across England and will keep you up to date with our findings.
The Department of Health has issued guidance that hospitals should provide 'free or reduced price parking for patients (and relatives/prime visitors of patients) with a long-term illness or serious condition requiring regular treatment'. Despite this, we know the average cancer patient in England is still paying £325 in hospital car parking charges over the course of their treatment. We think all hospitals in England should offer free or concessionary car parking for cancer patients and their carers or other regular visitors. 18,000 people have already signed our petition, but in order to give car parking charges the boot we need your support! You can support our campaign by signing our pledge|.
Hospital parking has been free in Wales since April 2008, except where trusts have external contracts in place. These trusts pledged to introduce free parking by 2011, and a report by the BBC Watchdog program in November 2012 found that only two health boards still had car parks which charged.
Parking is free for chemotherapy and radiotherapy patients.
Parking is free except for at three private hospitals in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Find out how you can campaign against these remaining hospitals charging at Unison Scotland|.
People know about the physical impact of cancer but it is also expensive. A little concession on this would make a huge difference to people going through cancer treatment. The Government has passed the decision on to local hospitals – so we need to keep up the pressure on them to help those who go to hospital regularly. Lynda Bellingham, actress and broadcaster.
People know about the physical impact of cancer but it is also expensive. A little concession on this would make a huge difference to people going through cancer treatment. The Government has passed the decision on to local hospitals – so we need to keep up the pressure on them to help those who go to hospital regularly.
Lynda Bellingham, actress and broadcaster.
Do you struggle to pay for parking? This is your chance to have your say and raise awareness...