Parking charges for stays of up to an hour at Craigavon Area Hospital have increased by 50%, under revised tariffs announced by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

PARKING charges for stays of up to an hour at Craigavon Area Hospital have increased by 50%, under revised tariffs announced by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

Patients and visitors using the hospital’s paid car parks now face a £1.50 charge for the first hour, compared with the previously published £1 tariff.

Patients and visitors using Craigavon Are Hospital’s paid car parks will see charges rising from £1 to 1.50 per for the first hour.

placeholder image — Patients and visitors using Craigavon Are Hospital’s paid car parks will see charges rising from £1 to 1.50 per for the first hour.

In May, then Health Minister Mike Nesbitt confirmed that a new law had come into effect to put off making all NI hospital car parking free, until May 2029.

He added that removing the charges would have "stripped" £7m from the Health & Social Care system at a time of severe budgetary constraints and “would simply have been unaffordable".

Patients and visitors using CAH’s paid car parks now face a £1.50 charge for the first hour, compared with the previously published £1 tariff.

The cost of parking for between one and two hours has increased from £1.80 to £2.40, a rise of 33.3%, while a two-to-three-hour stay has risen from £2.60 to £3 — an increase of 15.4%.

The Trust’s update, dated November 9, covers parking charges at both Craigavon and Daisy Hill hospitals.

It said the changes bring charges into line with hospitals across the region, responding to ‘inflation and covering operational costs’.

The Trust said the majority of parking at its hospitals remains free, with charges applying to car parks closer to the main hospital buildings.

However, some longer stays will cost less under the revised tariff. Exemptions continue to apply for some patients and visitors.

Patients with specific conditions, who are required to attend the hospital on a regular basis, will be entitled to free parking during their period of treatment.

A Southern Trust spokesperson told the News Letter that parking around busy hospitals is “an ongoing challenge,” with demand continually increasing.

The majority of trust hospital parking has always been and remains free, but charges apply to parking closer to the main hospital buildings, it added,

“The changes bring charges in line with hospitals across the region in response to inflation, to cover operational costs,” the trust said.

There are some exemptions for some patients and visitors. The income is used to pay for significant maintenance and security of hospital car parks. Otherwise money used to care for patients would have to be diverted to cover the expense.

But Upper Bann DUP MLA Diane Dodds said a 50% increase in the cost of a short stay car parks means “those who can least afford it hardest”.

“People using these car parks are attending a scan, bringing an elderly parent to an appointment or visiting a sick relative, and the last thing they need is an unfair cost on top of that worry. “The Trust points to inflation and operating costs, but a 50% rise for the first hour goes well beyond inflation. It is the shortest stays, often quick outpatient visits, that have been hit hardest.”

Free spaces are further from the main buildings, which is little comfort to someone with mobility issues, she added.

Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance were invited to comment.