There will be those who regularly use the services of Bradford hospitals for whom the news that more than £860,000 has been made from car parking charges over the course of a year will leave a very sour taste in their mouths.

For many people, using their cars is the safest, quickest and most convenient way to attend hospital, and those who have to repeatedly attend for treatment can find it a very costly practice.

It seems wrong to make money from sick, vulnerable people who have no choice about whether they attend hospital or not.

Bradford hospitals have already been attacked for putting up their car parking charges, and the news that they have made a huge amount of profit from this will not endear them to those who believe the sick and those who visit them should not be battered by huge costs.

Obviously, there are associated charges such as the ticket machines and the upkeep of the car parking sites, but at the end of the day ordinary people who have already paid for the health service through their taxes are being asked to fork out again via car parking charges to add to the NHS coffers.

It is perfectly fair to say, as the Trust does, that the cost of providing parking should not come from funding for front-line services. But, equally, patients and visitors should not be left to feel that the scale of the charges is producing a profit, especially given the Government's stated belief that healthcare should be free for all at the point of delivery.