Frontline hospital workers and vulnerable patients are being hit in the pocket by parking fees.

Hospitals in Brighton and Haywards Heath made £721,000 from patient and staff car parking in just 12 months, new figures reveal.

The total annual amount received from nurses and doctors increased by five and a half times between 2002 and 2007.

Patients and visitors to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath paid the highest rates in Sussex to park their cars when the latest figures were collected.

Hospitals have been accused of imposing taxes by stealth on patients and staff to prop up ailing finances, while patients' campaigners say the fees leave the most vulnerable people worse off.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust more than doubled the amount it made from staff parking between 2006 and 2007, from £72,000 to £180,000.

Rises in the cost of a monthly staff parking permit two years ago sparked accusations from unions that staff were bearing the brunt of managers' attempts to claw back huge debts.

Mark Turner, a GMB union representative, told The Argus that workers, patients and visitors are being made to pay while outside contractors park for free.

He said staff should not pay through parking fees to offset large budget deficits.

He said: "If it goes back into patient care or into securing jobs for our members, that's one thing, but if it is going to fill a void then it is a misuse of those extra funds."

The Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital made 55 per cent more from members of the public in 2007 than they did in 2002, increasing takings from £350,000 to £540,100.

Tony Reynolds, chairman of the Central Sussex Independent Patients' Forum, told The Argus pensioners and young mothers are among the groups worst hit by charges.

He said: "Most people wouldn't mind paying a nominal fee.

"But many appointments can last a morning and you end up paying £3 or more.

"For pensioners, or young mothers with a baby, this is a serious matter."

He said people living in rural areas away faced changing buses twice to get to Brighton or Haywards Heath.

He said: "Very often people are frail and even getting on a bus is quite an effort.

"The fees are an added burden for patients, and also for staff whose pay rises have not gone up as fast as the charges."

The situation for visitors is expected to become worse when a Sunday bus link between Brighton and Haywards Heath is withdrawn on May 18.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper told The Argus he would discuss parking fees with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust management.

He said staff travelling late at night and patients with conditions which limit their mobility cannot use public transport.

He said: "Some staff and patients have no alternative but to drive."

Parking fees for visitors were condemned last year by the British Medical Association's patient liaison group.

Chairwoman Juliet Dunmur said: "The car parking fees charged by some NHS trusts are unacceptable.

"It amounts to a tax on vulnerable patients and on NHS staff."

Across Sussex, hospitals raked in more than £3m between 2006 and 2007 from parking fees, with staff forking out almost £671,000 to park at work and visitors paying more than £2.5 million.

St Richard's Hospital in Chichester made the most from visitor parking fees - almost £584,000 at a cost of 80p per hour.

Visitors at Eastbourne District General Hospital paid a total of £400,000, at £1 per hour, while the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards made £350,000 at the same cost per hour.

Worthing Hospital visitors paid £541,000 at £1.10 per hour, while Southlands Hospital made just under £125,000.

No one was available to comment from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust yesterday.