By introducinghospital car park charges, NHS boards can better manage car parks and greatlyimprove the availability of parking spaces for patients, visitors and carersattending hospitals.The currentguidance on hospital car park charging states that boards must provide freeparking or concessions to certain categories of car park users, includingfrequently attending visitors for longer stay patients, patients in highdependency units and patients in intensive care areas.The management ofhospital car parks is a local matter for NHS boards, in line with currentguidance issued by the previous administration earlier this year which the Scottish Government isreviewing.