Patients and visitors seeing sick loved ones in hospital forked out millions parking at North East hospitals last year.

More than £7m was spent on car parking at hospitals across the region, with one trust making an almost four-fold increase in revenue from parking in the previous year.

The South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust pocketed £1,382,180 in parking revenue from patients and visitors, more than £1m more than the previous year (£362,827).

It’s according to NHS England figures analysed by the Lib Dems which reveal patients shelled out £146m to park at hospitals across the UK.

The party branded the fees a “tax on caring”.

Lib Dem health and social care spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: "Hospital car parking fees are becoming a tax on caring for visitors and our hard-working NHS staff. This Conservative government is utterly failing to deliver on their promise to crack down on unfair hospital parking fees, and people are paying the price.

“It is unthinkable that Rishi Sunak is slashing NHS funding when hospitals are already on the brink. This will just make the cash crisis facing local health services even worse, forcing them to make more impossible choices in the years ahead."

All trusts in the region saw an increase in how much they made from parking.

The Newcastle Hospitals trust made nearly £2m (£1,917,050), while trusts on Teesside both raked in more than £1m - £1,120,881 at North Tees and Hartlepool, and £1,421,049 at South Tees.

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Current government rules mean disabled people, frequent outpatients, parents of sick children staying overnight and staff working night shifts don’t pay car parking fees. Trusts can decide how to charge for parking for others, with most opting to slap patients with charges to make up funds.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We will always support hardworking NHS staff and have delivered on our commitment to provide free hospital car parking in England for those most in need.

“As of October 2022, all trusts that charge for car parking have fully implemented this commitment. This is the first time that free hospital car parking in England has been made available to those who need it the most.”

All NHS Trust contacted as part of the figures didn't respond in the timeframe they were given by The Northern Echo.