DOCTORS and nurses saving lives at Southend Hospital were charged and fined more than £140,000 to park at work.

During the last financial year the hospital received the money in parking tickets while a private contractor scooped up the cash by fining NHS staff, such as when tickets ran out because they were helping people

Nationally, NHS trusts made a combined total of almost £70million from staff parking charges over the same period.

Jo Jaques, regional officer at Unite said: “It is a scandal staff working at Southend University Hospital Foundation Trust have been used by the management to make £145,550 through parking charges in the last financial year.

“This is an outrageous and unscrupulous tax on work for those health staff who come into work 365 days-a-year to look after the sick, injured and vulnerable.

“Recently, the health unions secured a pay deal for NHS staff which will see most staff receive a rise of 6.5 per cent over the next three years. You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to work out that car parking charges will seriously erode that pay increase.

“Unite’s policy is that NHS staff in England should not pay to park their cars at work and we will continue to campaign strongly for that goal.”

Louisa Cowell, director of finance at Southend Hospital, said: “We received £143,500 income from staff parking charges in the financial year 2017/18. Staff mainly pay for parking through a monthly charge, and for full time staff this equates to less than £1 per day. Income from our staff parking charges is reinvested into the running and maintenance of our car parks with any surplus going towards the running of the hospital.

“Parking enforcement and fines are managed by a private contractor and they receive the income generated by fines.”