CAR parking charges have gone up at University Hospital Coventry – but remain the same at Rugby’s St Cross Hospital.
The first 10 minutes of parking remain free at Coventry, but a 10p rise for the first hour has taken charges to £2.80, and a two hour stay has risen to £3.90, up by 20p.
The car parks are not operated by the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, but by a private company as part of a PFI contract.
Free parking remains for the following groups:
- Oncology (cancer) patients attending for outpatient intravenous chemotherapy / radiotherapy treatment
- Renal dialysis patients
- Parents of sick children (who stay in hospital overnight to accompany their sick children)
- Those collecting paperwork related to a bereavement.
A spokesperson for UHCW NHS Trust said: “Hospital bosses have taken the difficult decision as tougher financial pressures mean it is no longer possible for it to use its own budgets to subsidise visitor car parking.
“It is never an easy decision to increase parking charges at our site, and we have every sympathy with our patients and their visitors.
“Unfortunately if we did not increase our prices, we would have to take money from budgets meant for patient care.
“We will continue to support patients wherever we can, by providing free parking for patients who visit the hospital regularly such as people having intravenous chemotherapy and kidney dialysis. We also encourage people to use public transport if this is an option for them.”
