Cash-stricken NHS Trust Boosts Funds Through Parking Fees - Farron

South Lakeland MP Tim Farron has uncovered figures showing that a local health trust has raised almost a million pounds through car parking fees in the last year.

The figures obtained by Tim show that in 2015/16, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust made £833,000 from car parking charges. This total has increased by almost 40% over the last 5 years.

This Trust runs hospitals across the Morecambe Bay area, including Westmorland General in Kendal, the Furness General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. In 2016, the cost of an hour of parking was £1.25.

However, with NHS services across Lancashire and South Cumbria predicted to face an £805million shortfall in funding by 2021, Tim says that the Trust is simply desperate to find the cash it needs to fund services.

Tim said: "Our NHS faces a funding crisis, but this Conservative government is simply not willing to provide the resources needed. By 2021, NHS services in our area face an £805million black hole. The Morecambe Bay Trust is so desperate for cash that it is having to raise cash from car parking to help it stay afloat. It is the friends and families of those who are ill that are paying the price for the government's unwillingness to properly fund our NHS."