Hospital car parking fees are crippling patients. Picture: Tara Crosser

As the row about federal funding for state hospital services intensifies, exorbitant hospital parking fees are emerging as a key issue for patients, staff and healthcare advocacy groups.

The Australian Medical Association has joined with the Cancer Council in calling for something to be done about hospital parking, which can see some patients requiring ongoing care paying thousands of dollars a year.

Mr Gates’ five-year-old son Jack suffers from the rare Ohtahara Syndrome that requires him to see “multitudes of specialists”. From neurologists to rehab therapists, Mr Gates spends $80 to $100 per week on parking.

Some weeks, parking can range into the hundreds. “It’s crazy that we spend more on car parking than the combined cost of the 12 medicines my son requires,” he said.

“We’re in the hospital sometimes once or twice a week, maybe more. Next week he’s having surgery so we’ll need to park two or three times a day. We have had to cancel neurological appointments just because we can’t afford to park.”

Mr Gates, 36, said he understood the parking operator — the Lady Cilento contracts its parking services out to Mater — needs to make some sort of profit.

“But when it’s so high that it starts impacting a child’s ability to see their doctors, something needs to be done,” he said.

The Lady Cilento has previously come under fire for its parking woes. The Courier-Mail reported last month that for some parents, finding a park at all had become virtually impossible.

Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Stephen Parnis.Source:Supplied

Local Southbank residents are now cashing in on the parking drought by advertising their carports and driveways for $200 a month or more to parents of sick children.

“They’ve basically built the hospital in the most expensive place in Brisbane, it’s crazy,” Mr Gates said. “It means even if they do cut down on carpark fees, it will just cause even more problems with capacity.”

According to Mr Gates unless you are “effectively unemployed”, it’s virtually impossible to access the hospital’s financial hardship program. “It’s very limited,” he said.

AMA vice president Dr Stephen Parnis said hospital parking “costing a small fortune” was a huge issue not just for patients and their families but even medical professionals.

“Getting to hospital is not easy for many. If they’re old, frail, or in pain, it’s not as if public transport is an option for these people or their families sometimes,” he said.

“We know that hospitals are starved of funding and are looking at any opportunity to improve their revenue flow, and car parking is clearly one of those.”

Dr Parnis said some hospitals provided concessional parking arrangements for certain patients and their families, but it was a “very variable thing”.

“Parking is a big issue, sometimes even for doctors who are on call for a hospital who have to get in there and care for someone,” he said.

“There needs to be recognition from all governments that this is symptomatic of the very, very difficult financial situations that every hospital board finds themselves in.”

Late last year, the Victorian government ordered the state’s public hospitals to review their car parking fees after two scathing reports revealed the huge burden parking fees were placing on patients.

It can take an hour to find a park at the Lady Cilento. Picture: Tara CrosserSource:News Corp Australia

A report by Cancer Council Victoria found patients receiving uncomplicated treatment spend $1100 a year on parking fees, while those battling more ­complex issues spend far more.

In some cases, patients were forced to spend up to $75 to park to undergo lifesaving treatment.

Meanwhile, a survey of Chronic Illness Alliance members found half had skipped meals so they could afford parking at Melbourne hospitals.

Melbourne’s 10 largest health services generated at least $60 million in parking revenue in 2014, with about $1 of every $4 going to private operators.

In NSW, hospitals raked in a record $34 million in the past financial year, according to NSW Health budget figures, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Leukaemia Foundation head of support services Anthony Steele said patients were reporting missing medical appointments due to rising parking fees, describing the fees as “heartless”.

“It is diabolical,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “It is the most complained about issue we get from our patients.

“We get reports of patients who don’t go to all their appointments because of the parking issue, especially bone marrow transplant patients.

“And sick people, weak people, nauseated and fatigued people have to walk long distances because they can’t afford to park at the hospital.”

Cancer Council Australia chief executive Sanchia Aranda said problems with hospital parking were among the most consistently reported complaints from cancer patients Australia-wide.

“Cancer patients often face financial stress. As well as the cost of treatment, patients and their carers often lose income when they have to adjust their working hours or give up employment,” she said.

But Prof. Aranda said, ultimately, parking fees were a matter for hospital administrators and their funders.

“We would hope that, as new cancer care facilities are designed and established facilities are redeveloped, parking access improved parking access for patients undergoing cancer treatment is a priority,” she said.

A Queensland Health spokesman said: “Individual hospital and health services are responsible for their own parking at their own facilities.”

frank.chung@news.com.au