Fifteen hundred pound parking charge for NHS Breast Cancer Unit

Cornwall council has received criticism from patients after issuing £1,500 in parking charges for a mobile NHS breast cancer screening unit. 

The mobile NHS breast cancer screening unit offers routine mammograms for women aged 50 to 71 to help detect cancer. The programme detects cancer in approximately eight out of every 1,000 women and supports more than 2 million women who have breast cancer screening in the UK every year.

The council issued the charges (totalling £1,500) after the vehicle stayed in a car park in Liskeard for six months in 2018. However, the council said it would not be able to confirm the total figure for parking charges issued against the NHS vehicle. 

After the figure emerged, Cornwall council received backlash from patients who described the parking fees as “disgusting”. One patient said: “The NHS is facing a funding crisis, the hospital is on black alert and health workers are struggling. We are constantly told about how little money the health service has.”

The patient added: “Most of the women will be parking up in the same car parks and paying for the time spent there – so the NHS is bringing the car park business anyway. I believe the council gave the NHS a discount, but also heard that other county councils don’t charge at all. I think there are certain supermarkets that allow them to park up for free, too.”

Following the backlash from patients, the council said it would no longer charge the NHS vehicle for parking after a “recent review”. 

A spokesman said: “Following a recent review there is now no charge made to the NHS for parking their mammogram vehicle in Cornwall council pay-and-display car parks.”

The spokesperson also added that the council were waiting to confirm whether the £1,500 fee will still stand.