Ealing Hospital has been criticised by the local MP for Ealing Southall, Virendra Sharma and other labour councillors for their excessive parking charges.

They have written to the hospital, saying that the £3.50 minimum charge for using the car park is too high, especially for people who only need to park for a short period of time.

The hospital had the cheek to reply that their excessive "car parking charges are similar to or less than other hospitals in the area."

They also assumed that the average stay for visitors to the hospital was two to three hours and as such only provide five spaces for free parking of up to 30 minutes.

Residents and visitors consider this to be totally inadequate in the number of spaces provided or the time allocated.

The vast majority of visitors do not need to stay for more than an hour and would consider a charge of £1 more reasonable. Anything more than that, is causing unnecessary stress and hardship to anyone unfortunate enough to visit Ealing Hospital.

Hospitals are supposed to provide relief and not cause further distress.

A local resident who has recently visited several hospitals said, "Other hospitals do not have a minimum charge of £3.50. Some hospitals do not charge after 6 or 8 pm. Other hospitals do not charge on Sundays or weekends. Ealing Hospital will fleece you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week."

The hospital has performed badly in the national league table for hospitals and also managed to dump patient’s confidential information in a skip in Harrow.

Ealing Council is no better at providing parking around the Hospital. It only provides 2 parking spaces opposite the hospital for a one hour period.