HOSPITAL CAR PARKING AND CHILDREN WITH CANCER

That this House notes that in August 2014, the Department of Health published guidance on hospital car parking charges suggesting that concessions should be available for visitors with relatives who are gravely ill; is shocked by recent research carried out by Clic Sargent, a charity supporting parents of children with cancer, which found that a third of parents whose children have cancer were never offered a reduction in parking costs by their NHS Trust; further notes that parents are spending an average of £44 a month on hospital car park charges; expresses deep concern that only 50 per cent of trusts offer free parking to patients and families in cancer treatment; and subsequently urges the Government to abolish car parking charges for patients suffering with cancer.