NHS trusts in England collected nearly £87 million from charging their own staff to park at work last year, prompting doctors’ leaders to call it a “stealth tax” on the profession.
The figure, posted by the BMJ, puts a sharp number on a long-running frustration among NHS workers — paying to park at the very hospitals and clinics where they work, often on shifts that run through the night when public transport simply isn’t running — though NHS guidance does entitle night shift workers to free parking, enforcement and application vary by trust.
Doctors’ leaders described the charges as a “stealth tax” on the profession. The phrase is pointed: unlike a pay cut, parking fees come out of take-home pay quietly, shift by shift, and fall hardest on staff who have no practical alternative to driving — those working early mornings, nights, or at sites with poor transport links.
The £87 million figure covers NHS trusts in England only.
There is no universal NHS policy on staff parking charges. Individual trusts set their own rates, which means the cost to an employee can vary sharply depending on which hospital they work at. Some trusts have reduced or scrapped charges ; others have increased them.
The issue has drawn attention before. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government temporarily suspended parking charges for NHS staff in England — a measure that was later reversed. Since then, the question of whether staff should pay at all has remained unresolved at a national level.
Anyone with concerns about NHS working conditions or services can contact NHS England through official channels, or raise issues with their local trust’s patient and public involvement team.
Source: @bmj_latest