UNION bosses have called for health chiefs to make parking free for Southampton hospital staff.

As exclusively revealed by the Daily Echo, hospital trust chiefs have cashed in more than £3.5m in parking fees at the city’s two main hospitals in the past year.

And a Freedom of Information request found that almost a third of that money came from hospital staff themselves who are paying to park at work.

Today Unison, which represents thousands of workers at Southampton General and Princess Anne hospitals said the parking charges were simply another mounting cost for workers who have suffered a real-term drop in pay over the past few years due to a pay freeze.

Mike Wilson, regional organiser for Unison, said: “I think we would all much prefer that patients, visitors and staff alike were not charged for parking at the hospitals.

“I know hospitals are short of cash and I’m sure they reinvest the cash in services and every bit of money they bring in helps balance the books.

“But what we disagree with most is when it is done at staff’s expense.”

Hundreds of workers at both Southampton sites recently took industrial action over a one per cent pay rise they are demanding from the Government.

Mr Wilson said a pay rise would help workers cope with costs like parking.

He added: We want our members to be paid a fair wage, a living wage. We want NHS employers to be telling the Government it is not acceptable and we want our staff to be valued.

“But hospitals cannot make their own decisions about what they pay their staff, it’s up to central Government, so we need their support in this dispute and I would call on our NHS employers to send out a clear message.”

University Hospital Southampton, which runs both hospitals, puts the giant windfall down to the high numbers of patients, visitors and staff using the car parks.

And the trust said it has no plans to increase fixed tariffs for staff parking.

Staff permits range between £15 per month to £60, depending on pay grade.

The trust also encourages workers to use park-and-ride schemes or car share to reduce both parking costs and the volume of traffic.

A spokesman previously said: “For staff, those who have a permit for full on-site parking pay a monthly fee linked to their pay band, with a number of other options available that can reduce the cost of parking and the volume of traffic on our sites, such as a discounted car share scheme and two nearby park- andride facilities.”