NHS trust running Shropshire's main hospitals takes more than £1 million in car parking charges in a year

Figures from NHS England reveal the trust earned £1.1 million in fees up to March, all of which came from visitors and patients.

The data shows the trust also spent £91,000 on parking services over the same period, meaning in total it made £1 million from parking.

Charges at the hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford start from £3.50 for up to two hours, up to £8.50 for 24 hours. It is free to park for the first 20 minutes.

Across England, NHS trusts made a net revenue of £165.6m from parking charges. 

This was from a total of £242.8m in car parking fees, after spending £77.2m to run parking services.

Helen Troalen, director of finance at SaTH, said: “Charging for parking is not a decision SaTH takes lightly. 

"Visitor charges were reintroduced after Covid-19 in 2021 and have not increased since.

“The trust does not profit from parking charges. 

"The money is used to pay for the maintenance of the car parks, off-site car parking and the staff park and ride services at both hospital sites. We have made a commitment that any surplus will be reinvested into frontline services and further parking solutions.

“We have balanced the costs of providing ample, staffed, clean and safe parking facilities with the income generated.”

Meanwhile, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Gobowen earned £270,000 in car parking charges during the same period.

The data shows the trust also spent £103,000 on parking services, meaning it made a total it made a total of £167,000 from parking. 

Visitors and patients are charged £3 for up to 24 hours, or can use weekly and 10-day tickets for £8 and £10 respectively. Staff are not charged to park.

Phil Davies, head of estates and facilities at RJAH,, said: “Our car park is the first point of contact with our hospital for many of the users of our services, and we are committed to maintaining quality standards that mirror our patient care. The revenue generated in our car parks is fully re-invested back into hospital services and patient care.

“We do our best to minimise the cost to visitors by offering regular users the option to purchase a weekly or 10-visit car parking ticket. 

"We offer card payments, as well as cash, to make it as easy as possible and we also have dedicated drop-off points on the hospital site, providing 20 minutes parking free of charge.

“Staff car parking charges are also paused and have been since the beginning of 2020. There are no current plans to re-introduce them.”