Epsom Hospital in top national league for car park charges

Epsom and St Helier parking among UK’s most expensive, study claims

Patients and visitors parking for more than eight hours at Epsom or St Helier Hospital face a £20 charge, placing the NHS trust among the most expensive in the country, according to newly published research.

The analysis by short-term lender Fast Loan UK compared the maximum daily parking charges advertised by NHS trusts on their websites.

It placed Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust joint seventh in its table, alongside Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Tooting was found to have the highest daily charge, at £30. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was second at £29, followed by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust at £26.50.

The ten highest charges identified by the research were:

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £30
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – £29
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust – £26.50
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust – £26
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £22.50
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £22
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – £20
Devon Partnership NHS Trust – £20
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust – £20
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £19

The local charge is confirmed by the Epsom and St Helier hospitals’ published parking tariffs, which have applied since April 2025.

Parking is free for the first 20 minutes. Charges then rise from £3.50 for up to one hour to £6 for two hours, £8 for three hours, £10.50 for four hours and £18 for seven hours. A fixed daily rate of £20 applies to stays exceeding eight hours.

The trust says parking spaces are limited and encourages patients and visitors to use public transport or active travel where possible. Epsom Hospital has 252 spaces, including 32 disabled bays and six drop-off and pick-up spaces.

Several bus services stop at Epsom Hospital itself:

166: Croydon – Purley – Chipstead – Banstead – Epsom – Epsom Hospital
293: Morden – North Cheam – Ewell Village – Epsom – Epsom Hospital
467: Kingston – Chessington – West Ewell – Epsom – Epsom Hospital
408: Woodmansterne – Banstead – Epsom – Epsom Hospital – Ashtead – Leatherhead – Effingham
479: Guildford – Fetcham – Leatherhead – Epsom Hospital – Epsom – Banstead – Chipstead
E5: West Ewell – Epsom – Epsom Hospital – Langley Vale
516: Epsom – Ashtead – Leatherhead – Box Hill – Dorking
623: Ashtead – Epsom Hospital – Epsom
21: Crawley – Dorking, Box Hill, Headley, Leatherhead, Ashtead, Epsom Hsopital – Epsom

Other services connect surrounding areas with Epsom town centre, from which the hospital is approximately a 15-minute walk:

406: Kingston – Surbiton – Tolworth – Ewell – Epsom
418: Kingston – Surbiton – Tolworth – West Ewell – Epsom town centre
E9: Epsom – West Ewell – Clarendon Park – Livingstone Park – Manor Park
E10: Epsom – Manor Park – Noble Park
E16: Epsom – Stoneleigh – Worcester Park – Ewell
318: Burgh Heath – Banstead – Nork – Tattenham Corner – Epsom
S2: Epsom High Street to St Helier Station

Free hospital parking is available to Blue Badge holders. Outpatients attending hospital three or more times in the same week and parents staying overnight on paediatric wards also qualify for free parking.

Other concessions include a £3.50 ticket for outpatients whose appointment overruns by more than an hour and weekly tickets for dialysis and oncology patients and the immediate relatives of people receiving intensive, high-dependency, coronary, neonatal or end-of-life care.

The trust says all money raised from parking goes towards managing and maintaining its car parks, security, environmental and travel initiatives and its shuttle bus. Any remaining income is directed towards clinical services.

Fast Loan UK said its figures were collected from NHS trust websites in June 2026. Where a trust operated several sites with different tariffs, the comparison used its highest published charge for a standard 24-hour stay.

The research also reported that 33 NHS trusts in England offered free parking and that hospital parking was free in Scotland.

Sam Jones – Reporter