A new petition urging the Scottish Government to look at ways to end car parking charges at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee will be launched on Monday.
Conservative MSP Bill Bowman has urged Ministers to give “a gift that keeps giving” by removing the charges.
Ninewells Hospital is one of three Scottish hospitals where patients, visitors and staff still have to pay to use the car park.
NHS Tayside is locked in to a private finance initiative with Indigo Parking Services.
The 30-year contract, signed by the then Labour/Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive, does not end until 2028.
Car park charges increased at the start of November.
Mr Bowman has launched a new online petition which he hopes will gain enough signatures to convince the Scottish Government to consult on the future of car parking at Ninewells.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has described car parking charges as “a tax on the sick”.
Mr Bowman said: “I’ve now told two SNP health secretaries that they need to listen to Nicola Sturgeon, if nothing else, and do something about these unfair charges.
“I think the people of Tayside, plus the many patients and health professionals who travel to Dundee for treatment and teaching, have been remarkably calm about this continued obstinacy.”
Mr Bowman said it would be difficult to ignore the petition if it gains enough signatures.
He said: “Dundee is represented by SNP MSPs and MPs. Shona Robison refused to do anything and has now been replaced (as health secretary), but they aren’t doing anything to help.
“I think it’s got to come from the people themselves, and a petition might be a good start.”
The Scottish Government has repeatedly been urged to find a way to end Indigo’s contract at Ninewells Hospital.
But correspondence sent on behalf of Shona Robison when she was health secretary revealed the cost of ending the contract early was deemed too high.
In a letter to constituents, Ms Robison said: “Given the financial constraints… investment in this area would reduce the amount of money that can be invested in clinical services. For these reasons we have not attempted to buy out the car park contract at Ninewells.”
Ms Robison’s successor as health secretary Jeanne Freeman, wrote to Indigo earlier this year urging it not to raise car parking fees this year.
The petition can be signed at www.change.org/p/bill-bowman-ask-the-snp-to-review-parking-charges-at-ninewells-hospital
