Patients and visitors have paid out £2.2m just to park at three county hospitals in a year, it has been revealed.

The figure — which equates to more than £6,000 every day — was condemned last night as appalling and a tax on sickness.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust has seen its parking revenue rise at Oxford’s John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals, and the Horton in Banbury, by almost £1m in just three years, although it denied running the car parks for profit.

Mark Ladbrooke, Unison branch secretary for Oxfordshire, dubbed the figure for April 2007-March 2008 as “appalling”.

He is campaigning for all parking fees at hospitals in England to be scrapped to bring it in line with Wales and Scotland.

He said: “They amount to a tax on sickness.

“It’s a really inappropriate way to raise funds for the NHS and we are calling for all charges to be abolished. They are appalling.”

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, chairman of the ORH’s patient focus group, agreed. She said: “They are an absolute rip-off.

“Nobody chooses to park in hospitals – people have no choice.

“It’s an issue that worries visitors and patients a great deal. It would be awful if someone couldn’t visit a friend or relative because they couldn’t afford to pay.”

In 2004-05 the trust collected £1.26m and that rose to £1.72m a year later.

In total, hospitals in England earned £110m in 2007-08.

Pensioner Angela McKnight, from Chipping Norton, spent five hours a day visiting her husband at the JR over a two-month period last year after he lost a leg in a mowing accident.

She said: “I don’t see any harm with the idea of a parking fee, but it’s so expensive.

“I don’t drive – a friend dropped me off and picked me up each day. I would have been paying a phenomenal sum.”

Father-of-two Fabio Moore, 32, from Headington, rushed to the JR on Friday after his seven-month-old son Louis fainted.

He said: “I’ve been in and out all day. I had to pay £4.20 in the morning and I’ve just paid another £5.50. It’s getting very expensive.”

Pensioner Shirley Royal, from Wheatley, said: “I think it’s very hard for people who visit regularly, people who are very sick, for example.

"It cost me £2.50 to park for two hours.”

ORH NHS Trust defended its charges.

Spokesman Elika Saedi said: “We are one of the largest teaching trusts in the country, with more than 4,000 patients, visitors and staff car park spaces, over three sites.

“Our car parks are not run for profit.

“The small charge applied covers the running costs of the car parks, including security patrols, CCTV, general upkeep and maintenance. If there is a surplus after these costs it goes straight back into services benefiting our patients and visitors.

“We do, however, offer free or discounted parking to many different patient and visitor groups.

“In addition, we offer free parking to patients who attend for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“We have to ensure that parking is available to those who genuinely need to bring a car to our hospitals and cannot use public transport.

“Applying a small charge allows us to manage our car parks effectively and means we are not using vital funds intended for patient care.”

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk