AS car parking charges are reintroduced for NHS hospital staff in England, we take a look at how much money NHS Trusts were making from them before they were scrapped in March 2020.

Car parking charges will be reintroduced for NHS staff at hospitals in England this Friday (April 1).

The fees were temporarily suspended, but Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the pandemic had moved to a new stage.

Read more: The North East hospitals scrapping negative Covid tests for visitors

But most recent data from NHS Digital revealed how much money was spent by patients, staff and visitors on car parks at NHS Trusts in the North East.

NHS Digital said that total gross income generated includes gross contributions from patients and visitors, service level agreements with other NHS organisations, fines, and parking permits.

Read more: The last date you can collect free Covid lateral flow tests in Darlington

Here’s how much some NHS Foundation Trusts in the North East were making from car parking charges for the financial year 2019/20:

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust:

£74,3001 from patients and visitors

£679,982 from staff

Total: £1,422,983

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust:

£400,695 from patients and visitors

£50,4654 from staff

Total: £905,349

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust:

£135,9187 from patients and visitors

£748,976 from staff

Total: £2,108,163

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust:

£1,412,638 from patients and visitors

£705,801 from staff

Total: £2,118,439

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

£1,945,822 from patients and visitors

£1,300,731 from staff

Total: £3,246,553

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust:

£1,708,585 from patients and visitors

£1,050,124 from staff

Total: £2,758,709

Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

£2,215,342 from patients and visitors

£1,147,377 from staff

Total: 3,362,719

York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

£1,891,172 from patients and visitors

£220,751 from staff

Total: £2,111,923

Harrogate and District NHS foundation Trust:

£596,778 from patients and visitors

£124,991 from staff

Total: £721,769

Read more: Meet the 1,000th cat to be re-homed from the RSPCA Cat Hub in Darlington

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said: “Charging the NHS staff who've risked their lives during the pandemic to park at work is a sick joke.

“After the years of Tory cuts NHS trusts are struggling, we know. But scrabbling the money back off hard up workers is not the answer.

“The Government must now legislate for free hospital staff parking once and for all.”

--

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054