Sarah Carpenter, the national officer for health at Unite, speaks for the majority of the British public when she says that "dedicated NHS staff, who don’t earn a fortune, shouldn't have to pay to park their cars to go to work to look after the sick, the vulnerable and the injured 365 days a year”.

Our NHS staff work long hours in incredibly difficult circumstances to save lives and treat the wounded, so the least our government could do is provide them with free and adequate parking.

Of course our hospital trusts are struggling financially and need to rake in more money somehow, but charging their staff to park is not the right way to boost the budget,

However, it is a sure fire way to lower staff morale.

Peter Pinfield, chairman of watchdog Healthwatch Worcestershire, summed up the situation well: “It’s one of those policies that will backfire on the NHS and the trust. Our health service depends on goodwill and extra effort by qualified staff.”

He's spot on: our NHS staff go that extra mile for patients; their bosses should do the same for them.