Milton Keynes Hospital made £1.4 million from parking charges last year
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust made almost £1 million in profit from parking charges in the past year, according to data from NHS England.
The trust received £1.4 million in parking charges across its various sites in the year to March, with £1.4 million coming from charges to patients and visitors, and £30,100 from charges to staff.
Income from parking received by the trust did decrease by one per cent from the previous year, when it stood at £1.5 million.
Across England, NHS trusts received £271 million from parking charges, an increase of 12 per cent from the previous year.
Managing parking cost Milton Keynes University Hospital a total of £522,000, meaning overall it gave it a net income of £921,000.
Nationally, the NHS spent £84 million administering parking, giving it a total net income of £187 million.
Brian Morton, associate director for employment relations at the Royal College of Nursing, said: "For nursing staff, the cost of parking takes too much of their pay.
"Staff are having to pay to park at work and can even be hit with fines when they stay late caring for their patients. This simply cannot be right.
"Staff work around the clock to be there for their patients, and working odd shift times means using public transport is not always possible.
"Trust leaders must do more to provide free parking for staff and not leave them out of pocket just for coming to work."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson added: "Local trusts are responsible for car parking space numbers, rates for parking and charging methods, but all parking charges should be reasonable for the local area.
"Free parking is available for those in greatest need, including all NHS staff who work overnight.
"While hospital car park charges are the responsibility of individual NHS trusts, we expect all charges to be reasonable and in line with the local area."
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