Car parking charges at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee will finally come to an end after a £9 million deal to bring them into public hands was agreed by the Scottish Government.
Ninewells was one of only three Scottish hospitals where staff and visitors were forced to pay to park due to finance deals struck with private operators.
Parking charges have been suspended at the existing hospital PFI facilities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Holyrood says it has now struck deals with the operator of the car park at Ninewells, and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, to buy out the contract and make this permanent.
Ninewells car park charges to end permanently
The move comes less than three years after the Scottish Government claimed such a move would bring “significant sums of capital and revenue cost implications” for public bodies.
Former health secretary Shona Robison previously said: “Given the financial constraints… investment in this area would reduce the amount of money that can be invested in clinical services.
“For these reasons we have not attempted to buy out the car park contract at Ninewells.”
The PFI deal had been due to run until 2028.
Current health secretary Humza Yousaf said today: “We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to our NHS workforce for their heroic efforts throughout the pandemic and this will ensure that, along with patients and visitors using our hospitals, they will not face the prospect of parking charges returning.
“There are no car parking changes in place at any hospitals after this Scottish Government secured an arrangement to suspend these at the three PFI sites at the start of the pandemic.
“Charges at other NHS car parks had already been abolished by this Government.
“This announcement shows we are determined to ensure they will not return at any PFI site in Scotland.”
Negotiations to buy out the contract at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary are expected to conclude within months, Mr Yousaf added.
John Paterson, NHS Tayside’s director of facilities, said: “We know that the suspension of car parking charges at Ninewells Hospital has benefited patients, staff and visitors alike and it has made a real difference to those who have come on to our site since March 2020.
“Today’s announcement of the permanent removal of parking charges at Ninewells is welcome news for everyone.
“We have worked closely with Scottish Government and car park operators Saba UK to achieve this and we are continuing to work with Saba UK to ensure car parks are managed effectively, enabling patients, staff and visitors to park safely at the hospital.”
Michael Marra, the Dundee-based Scottish Labour MSP for the north-east, says it is “high time” the charges were brought to an end.
He said: “It was always going to be completely untenable for charges to be reintroduced after the pandemic.
“This tax should have ended years ago in line with the rest of Scotland. At long last the SNP have faced up to reality.
‘Distressed families have paid millions’
“For 13 years they said that this could not be done and distressed families have paid for that delay with many, many millions of pounds in charges.
“This step should be accompanied by the commissioning of a clear strategy to ensure that car traffic to Ninewells is reduced for the long term.”
Maurice Golden, north-east MSP for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Patients, staff and hospital visitors in Dundee have had to endure unfair and at times eye-watering parking charges for too long.
“It was increasingly unacceptable that Dundee remained one of only three places in Scotland where this happened.
Parking charges were a ‘tax on illness’
“I’m delighted for the patients, NHS workers and visitors who will now benefit from an improved parking situation.
“The sheer amount of money involved in these agreements shows just how much cash was being made at the expense of patients, employees and visitors.
“It was a tax on illness, and it’s absolutely right that it’s been brought to an end.
“It’s essential we now start thinking about issues of capacity and ensuring everyone who needs a parking space at the hospital can get one.”