Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust made more than £1 million in car parking charges - but says it's still an overall loss

But the Trust says that is “currently making a loss on car parking”.

Figures from NHS England reveal Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust earned £2.2 million in car parking fees in the year to March – all from visitors and patients, with the trust not taking any fees from staff.

But the data shows the trust also spent £611,000 on parking services over the same period, meaning in total it made £1.6 million from parking.

A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust: “The Trust is currently making a loss on car parking. The figures mentioned do not include lease costs for the car parks that we do not own, as well as the depreciation charges on the ones we do. In addition, there are capital costs not mentioned on building and maintaining the existing car parks.”

The figures also show there were 3,092 available parking spaces across Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust.

NHS England said revenue from parking is put towards other services provided by trusts.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Hospital car park charges are the responsibility of individual NHS trusts, however any charges must be reasonable and in line with the local area. Free parking is available for all NHS staff who work overnight."