West Midlands hospital trust made more than £2m from parking charges

The figures cover income received from patients and staff at City, Sandwell and Rowley Regis hospitals in the financial year 2013/14, and do not include money paid in fines.

The amount dwarfs income received by some other hospital trusts in the area. The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust brought in around £1 million in 2013, while Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust made around £600,000 the previous year.

But the income has come under fire from an MP who has accused the Trust of employing desperate measures in a bid to bolster hospitals' coffers.

The figures, which come from a Freedom of Information request, show a total of £1.3 million was spent on parking by patients and staff at City Hospital, in 2013/14, while £809,121 was spent at Sandwell Hospital and £34,089 at Rowley Regis Hospital.

Overall £1.4m was spent by patients and visitors and £681,599 was spent by staff.

West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson said: "For many years I have been critical of the high parking charges at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospitals Trust.

"As a result of central government cuts, hospital bosses seem desperate to find income any way they can - even if it means charging chronically sick people who need to park in order to receive treatment.

"Clearly, the Trust needs a proportion of the income it generates to pay for the upkeep of its car parks and security staff but £2.1 million is a much higher figure than I would expect."

Vanya Rogers, spokeswoman for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said the car parks do not make any profit from the charges. She added: "All the money goes straight back into maintaining and improving parking, access and facilities services including 24 hour security, patrols and CCTV, maintenance of car parks, ensuring enough parking spaces are available for patients and visitors who really need them, discounted parking tickets, staff shuttle buses, improving public footpaths and cycle routes and providing clear signage and road markings."

Parking at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospital Trust sites is currently free for up to 15 minutes and £2.60 up to an hour. Charges were increased by 10p earlier this year. The maximum fee that can be paid is £5.10, while seasons tickets and some concessionary charges are available.

At Walsall Manor and Stafford Hospitals the maximum rate for parking is £6, while at New Cross in Wolverhampton it is £5.30 and at Russells Hall in Dudley it is £5.50.

Parking charges have been a major point of dispute at hospitals across the West Midlands, with fees increasing across the board in the past 12 months.

The hikes have led to MPs calling for charges to be capped or even scrapped altogether to stop cash-strapped hospitals from raising them.

South Staffordshire Tory Gavin Williamson has described the fees as an 'obscene charge on people's ailments'.

Dudley North MP Ian Austin has said he was concerned the vulnerable people could pay the price of any budget black holes if hospital bosses put up the parking rates to fill them.

Earlier this year hospitals were told to cut the cost of parking for certain groups under new guidelines. Ministers said relatives of people who were seriously ill or had to stay in hospital for lengthy periods of time should be given free parking or reduced charges.

The guidelines also said concessions should be offered to people with disabilities and NHS staff whose shift patterns meant they could not use public transport.