HOSPITAL parking charges are here to stay after the Government scrapped Labour’s pledge to offer free permits to family and friends.

The decision, which will cost people visiting patients in the region up to £1m a year, was condemned by one cancer charity for failing sick people.

But Health Minister Simon Burns said the £100m cost was unaffordable and argued the decision should be left to individual hospital trusts.

The phasing out of charges for inpatients – but not all outpatients on short visits – was promised by Labour a year ago after a long campaign.

The idea was to give every inpatient a parking permit to be shared by family members or friends wanting to visit.

The offer was also to be extended to outpatients making regular appointments, such as cancer patients facing frequent chemotherapy sessions.

In 2007-8, people visiting the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, paid £616,555 to park there, with other big totals run up at hospitals in Hartlepool (£253,047), York (£725,491), Sunderland (£354,844) and Harrogate (£357,298). Parking is already free at most hospitals in Scotland and Wales.

Mr Burns said: “Even if funding was available, the costs associated with investing this money in car parking, rather than in healthcare, are estimated at £200m in lost benefits to patients. There are better uses of public money.”

The decision was condemned by Ciaran Devane, the chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, who said: “It is simply not good enough to pass the buck on to local hospitals and wash their hands. Charging vulnerable cancer patients several pounds a throw while they are visiting hospital to receive life-saving treatment causes needless distress.”

Andy Burnham, the Labour health secretary who vowed to remove charges, said: “Patients and their families will feel let down by this decision.”