Hikes in car parking charges at Westmorland General hospital have been slammed by a local MP and long-term patient.

Public parking charges at sites run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT) have increased for the first time in four years.

The trust said the increase was inline with charges set by local authorities and other NHS trusts.

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Parking charges are now as follows:

Up to 1 hour: £2

Up to 2 hours: £3

Up to 4 hours: £4.50

Up to 8 hours: £9

Up to 24 hours: £12

Weekly: £12.50

There has been no changes for blue badge holders.

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Local pensioner Sam Richardson has been a long term patient at the hospital for two-and-a-half years due to a wound on his foot.

He has to pay for one hour's parking weekly which has gone up by 50p.

Car parking at Westmorland General Hospital increased in AugustMr Richardson said: "The increase in parking charges at the hospital from £1.50 to £2.00 for one hour's parking is excessive . 

"I would like to know why the hospital trust feels this is a reasonable increase at this particular time.

"It smacks of a tax on the sick and injured and an unreasonable expense for people having to visit the hospital on a regular basis - taking into account the fact virtually no public transport exists in the area and some patients inability to walk.

"It's quite a shocking increase to people on a pension. It may not seem a lot, 50p here-and-there, but it all adds up."

Westmorland General HospitalMr Richardson contacted Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron who wrote to the trust after agreeing the charges were unfair to both staff and patients.

Mr Farron said: "Hospital car parking charges are a tax on illness.

"However our local NHS feel faced with no other choice but to increase these charges as they desperately need funds to pay for vital front line care.

"Patients are being punished for the fact that our local NHS is being asked to make even more cuts to its budgets – more than almost anywhere else in the country.

"Ahead of this month’s budget, I will be urging the Chancellor to invest in our local health services, rather than cut them."

Last month, after a complaint to office staff at the hospital, Mr Richardson was issued with a six-month free parking ticket for being a patient with long-term appointments.

The trust has confirmed that these are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Last year, Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT) received £865,538 from visitor/patient car parks and £270,555 from staff car parks in 2022/23.

This is a 118 per cent increase for visitor/patient car parks on 2021/22, which was £270,555, and a nearly ten-fold increase for staff car parks, which was £28,722. 

In response to the most recent changes, David Sanderson, Director of Estates and Facilities, UHMBT, said: "Public parking charges at sites run by UHMBT were brought in line with parking charges set by local authorities and other NHS Trusts on Monday 19 August 2024 - the first rise in parking charges since 2019.

"There are no changes to the current arrangements for Blue Badge holders and to those patients who are not required to pay for parking.

"We strongly believe that the car parks should be self-financing and be operated and maintained without subsidy from patient care budgets."