Hastings and Rye MP Michael Foster is supporting Labour plans to scrap hospital parking charges for in-patients in England if the party wins the next election.

In-patients at the Conquest would get a permit to cover the length of their stay which visitors could then use to park for free.

This would build on the recent announcement by the East Sussex Hospitals Trust, which includes the Conquest, of a new pay-on-exit parking system for people using the car park that will be introduced by the end of the year. The new system will enable patients and visitors to pay for parking when they leave the hospital car parks rather than when they arrive. This will remove any worries they may have had of their parking ticket running out.

Michael Foster MP has welcomed both initiatives:

“When people are coming into hospital the last thing they want to worry about is keeping the car park ticket machine up to date. It's not right if some people don't get visitors every day because their families can't afford the parking fees.

“We now have a double pronged attack on unfair hospital parking charges. If we win the next election we will ensure in-patients can offer free parking to their visitors. By that time the Conquest will have introduced their new pay-on-exit scheme which will stop people getting parking tickets simply because of appointments overrunning. I applaud them for their efforts in tackling this issue.”