Drivers working in the NHS have been slapped with a double whammy of skyrocketing living costs, grappling eye-watering parking tickets and fuel costs to visit vulnerable patients.
NHS workers required to drive for home care or social care visits could be forced to pay £150 more for diesel and £100 more for petrol than in 2014, Labour analysis finds.
Healthcare workers who use their own vehicles to work, like providing care in a patient’s home, are able to claim mileage expenses back.
But unions including the Royal College of Nursing have urged the Government to increase how much workers can claim back.
Conservative Governments have not increased mileage rates for healthcare staff since 2014, despite soaring fuel costs.
On top of this, NHS staff are set to pay £350 a year to park their cars, after Sajid Javid scrapped free hospital car parking.
NHS England figures reveal the average cost for an hour of parking in hospital trusts amount to around 19p an hour.
Union chiefs warned NHS staff face a multi million pound car parking bill from April 1.
Labour wants an emergency budget to help families struggling with the cost of living.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Some thanks NHS staff are getting from the Conservatives for their efforts over the pandemic.
"Staff are already feeling the pinch, and now the Conservative Government is making the cost-of-living crisis even worse for them.
“While there is a growing shortage of doctors and nurses, this could be one more thing that pushes many to leave the health service. It’s tin-eared and foolish.
“Labour will cut energy bills by up to £600 with a one-off windfall tax on the booming profits of oil and gas companies.”
The additional charges will pile on the existing pressure of rising fuel prices, with the cost of petrol and oil rising 24% in the last year alone.
Separate analysis from Labour finds that families will be forced to spend an additional £10 billion on petrol this year, thanks to soaring prices.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are grateful for the incredible contribution of NHS staff, who provided exemplary care for patients during the pandemic.
"NHS staff can already claim 56p per mile for essential work-related travel - above HMRC’s approved mileage rate of 45p per mile - and this is reviewed every six months.
“We also recognise the pressures that people are facing with the rising cost of living and we are taking action to support households – including by cutting fuel duty, raising the threshold at which people start to pay National Insurance, and cutting taxes for the lowest-paid workers on Universal Credit so they can keep more of what they earn.”
