Labour will end car parking charges at NHS England hospitals by raising insurance tax on private healthcare to 20%, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

He vowed a Labour government would make parking free for patients, visitors and NHS staff, with the £160m annual cost of the policy paid for by the insurance increase.

Last month, a freedom of information request by the union Unison revealed some hospitals are charging staff, including nurses struggling with low wages, nearly £100 a month to park, resulting in reports of nurses having to rush out between appointments to move their cars to avoid fines.

Speaking in Worcester, Corbyn said: “Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff. Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

Corbyn: hospital car park charges are a tax on serious illness pic.twitter.com/WPNoRTfYtc — Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) May 8, 2017

“Our hospitals are struggling from underfunding at the hands of Theresa May’s Conservative government, but the gap should not be filled by charging sick patients, anxious relatives and already hard-pressed NHS staff for an essential service. Our NHS needs a Labour government that will stand up for the many, not the few.”