HOSPITAL CAR PARKING CHARGES - VISITORS OF LONGER-STAY PATIENTS

That this House notes that hundreds of thousands of inpatients stay in hospital for seven days or longer each year; understands that nobody goes to hospital by choice; appreciates that being a patient or a visitor at a hospital can be a stressful and emotional time; further notes that some hospitals charge up to £250 a week to park; recognises that this puts huge strain on friends and family of patients who would like to visit their ill loved ones; and therefore urges the Government to scrap hospital car parking charges at NHS hospitals in England.