A senior Tory has sparked confusion over whether free hospital parking for NHS staff in England is to end after she rejected the idea and claimed no decision had been made.
Nicky Morgan, a former cabinet minister, said there was “no foundation” to reports that the charges for staff, which had been waived during the coronavirus pandemic, would cease.
This i newspaper had reported that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said free parking would continue only for “key patient groups and NHS staff in certain circumstances” as the pandemic eases.
The health minister Edward Argar wrote in a statement on 3 July that nothing had changed on free parking for staff, but that it had only been made possible by support from local authorities and independent providers and “this support cannot continue indefinitely”.
Lady Morgan, who served as Boris Johnsons culture secretary and is a former Treasury select committee chair, told the BBC: “Were all reacting to a decision thats not even on the table, as far as Im aware.
“Car parking charges in hospitals is a hot potato and has been for a long time. There are always going to be tricky decisions that have to be taken in relation to budgets by a hospital trust, by the government and others, but I think reacting to a story – there is no foundation in it – is something I hope people are not going to be worrying about today.”
In an earlier interview with Sky, she said stopping the free parking would be a strange decision given how hard NHS and care staff had been working.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced on 25 March that the government would cover the costs of car parking for NHS staff, who he said were “going above and beyond every day” at hospitals in England.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has said reintroducing charges while the virus is still being fought would be “a rebuff to the immense efforts of staff across the country and the sacrifices they have made to keep others safe”.
Argar said the government wanted to be able to make good on its promise of free hospital parking for disabled people, frequent outpatient attendees, parents of sick children who are staying overnight and nightshift workers.
He said: “Implementation of this commitment has been on hold whilst the NHS has been managing the Covid-19 pandemic and devoting its hospital parking capacity to staff and other facilities necessary for managing the pandemic.”
In response to another question from Labours Zarah Sultana, also answered on Friday, Argar said the government was “considering how long free parking for National Health Service staff will need to continue, recognising that this has only been made possible by external support from local authorities and independent sector providers”.
He added: “The governments focus remains on ensuring the commitment of free parking for the groups identified in their announcement of 27 December 2019 is implemented once the pandemic abates.”
The Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Layla Moran said NHS workers must not be “saddled with extortionate parking charges” and said removing charges for staff had been “the right move”.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA council chair, said: “The governments decision to waive parking charges during Covid-19 was a welcome announcement, but to reinforce them, before weve even won the fight against this virus, is a rebuff to the immense efforts of staff across the country and the sacrifices they have made to keep others safe.”
A DHSC spokeswoman said: “We want to make sure NHS staff can travel safely to work during the pandemic, which is why we requested that the NHS make parking free for staff, and that local authorities do the same with their car parks.
“When the pandemic begins to ease, the NHS will continue to provide free hospital car parking to key patient groups and NHS staff in certain circumstances. We will provide further updates on this in due course.”
