An MP is trying to change the law to exempt carers from having to pay to park in hospital car parks.
The Hospital Parking Charges (Exemption for Carers) Bill is due to be discussed in the House of Commons today (Friday 30 October).
But the main hospital trust for Brighton and Hove said that if the bill became law, it would not have a substantial impact in this area.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust – the trust that runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital – said that it already offers concessions to some patients, relatives and carers.
The trust said: “The bill being discussed in Parliament doesn’t propose to ban hospitals from charging for parking.
“The bill would place a duty on health authorities to exempt carers who are in receipt of, or have an underlying entitlement for, Carer’s Allowance and those who have been certified by a clinician as providing, or intending to provide, substantial care on a regular basis.
“BSUH already provides concessionary rates or free parking to certain groups of patients and relatives/carers of some patients so the financial impact of these changes, should they happen, is not likely to be substantial.
“At the moment these concessions are allocated locally by the clinicians who are directly in touch with patients and their families within individual wards and departments.
“We are in the process of updating our parking policy and part of that will be agreeing a definitive list of concessions which we could advertise more generically and make available on the public website.”
In the 2014-15 the trust made £1.16 million from parking charges, before taking into account the operating costs.
The Royal Sussex site in Kemp Town contributed £560,000 towards the total. The trust also has parking at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
At the Royal Sussex it costs £2.50 for less than two hours, £3.80 for two to four hours, £5 for four to six hours, £10 for six to 12 hours and £18 for 12 to 24 hours.
While parking charges have attracted criticism, they have been defended for helping to fund the NHS. It would otherwise have to cut costs or find the money from other sources.
Charges also help manage the demand for parking at hospitals and cover the cost of any schemes to regulate parking in hospital grounds.
The Brighton trust won praise from Carers UK, the online forum for carers which has been working with Burnley MP Julie Cooper to promote the change in law.
It said that it had been in contact with a number of hospitals where carers and others were exempt from parking charges.
The online forum said that it was keen to see the spread of best practice and supported the proposed change in law.
