POLITICIANS from both sides of the political spectrum have urged a review of parking charges at Barnet Hospital.

It was revealed by consumer watchdog Which the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust has the highest minimum parking fees in the country, at £4 for two hours.

Which? has now urged hospitals to review parking charges and in particular the use of clamping and towing in patient car parks.

Councillor Helena Hart, who is in charge of health for Barnet Council, said: “I certainly agree that these flat charges do seem to be unfair, particularly to those people planning to stay for less than an hour. “I have therefore asked the chief executive of the Trust to urgently consider reducing the minimum payment for stays of less than an hour and perhaps also look at some sort of phasing for slightly longer periods.”

Last year the Labour government announced a review of the charging in hospitals, although the new coalition has not yet stated whether there will be any such pressure brought to bare on Trusts.

Her words were echoed by Cllr Barry Rawlings, Labour’s health spokesman, who said his party welcomed the Which? campaign to make charges fairer.

He said: “It’s important that the Hospital Trust reviews its policy to take into account the different needs of frequent and short term visitors.

“For those who need to visit people with long-term chronic conditions a one size fits all parking charge policy is unfair, to many of Barnet’s hard-pressed residents.

“The Conservatives should support this campaign, our previous Labour government pledged to scrap hospital parking charges for in-patients and their visitors.”

Yesterday a statement from the Trust said they fee of £4 allows patients to park in the car park all day, but said there was a review underway into the charging structure.

What do you think of the cost of parking at local hospitals? Leave your comments below.