NHS staff parking charges and permits

In England, NHS trusts must give free parking to staff working night shifts and to disabled people they employ. Everyone else pays whatever their trust decides, unless the trust offers a concession of its own. The national rules sit in the NHS car parking guidance, which was updated on 29 March 2022 and removed the earlier commitment to free parking for all NHS staff at hospital sites.

Who gets free parking

The guidance names four groups who should park free of charge: disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight, and staff working night shifts. Two of them apply to employees.

Night shift staff are defined as staff with a shift starting after 7.30pm and ending before 8.00am. They get free parking for the duration of their shift. A shift that starts at 7pm, for example, falls outside the definition on a strict reading, so check how your trust applies it. The wider picture of night working is in working nights and night work rules.

Disabled employees of the trust get free parking while at the hospital for purposes relating to their employment. The wording refers to a disabled person employed by the hospital trust. If you are disabled and your trust does not offer this, ask HR or your union rep, and point them to the guidance.

The guidance is a condition of the NHS Standard Contract, which requires trusts and foundation trusts to provide free parking to the groups and at the times it lists.

What everyone else pays

Charges for other staff are set locally. The guidance says charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the area. It lists other concessions as voluntary, though trusts are encouraged to adopt them. Those concessions are for visitors of gravely ill relatives and carers. For staff it says other concessions, for example for volunteers or staff who car-share, should be considered locally.

So whether you pay by the day, by the month through payroll, or hold a permit with a waiting list depends on your employer. The guidance does not set permit prices or say how permits are allocated.

Overstaying and extra charges

Trusts should consider pay-on-exit schemes so you only pay for the time you use. Additional charges, such as penalty notices, should only be imposed where reasonable, and should be waived when overstaying is beyond the driver’s control. The guidance gives the example of staff being required to work beyond their scheduled shift. A grace period should normally apply before a parking charge notice is issued.

If a private firm runs the car park, the NHS organisation remains responsible for what the contractor does. The guidance says contracts should not be let on a basis that rewards extra charges, such as income from parking charge notices alone.

Finding your trust’s policy

Trusts should publish their parking policy, how they have applied the national principles, financial information about parking and a summary of complaints. Look for these on the trust website or ask in your induction. If you work across several sites, check each, because arrangements can differ between hospitals in the same trust.

Parking is one item among the wider NHS staff benefits, and night shifts are covered in NHS shift patterns.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own policies, and this article covers England only.