Posted 25 April 2023 - 05:00
Posted 25 April 2023 - 05:00
News
Many nurses still face unsafe parking and journeys to work
Long walks to public transport at night, dimly lit car parks, prohibitive hospital parking fees – union demands that NHS employers prioritise staff safety
Long walks to public transport at night, dimly lit car parks, prohibitive hospital parking fees – union demands that NHS employers prioritise staff safety
Safe access to parking and public transport is a ‘mixed bag’ across the NHS, with nurses and other healthcare staff often travelling at unsocial hours due to shift work, unions have warned.
Women make up 89% of the nursing workforce and more than seven out of ten NHS staff, with many facing long walks to public transport late at night, dimly lit car parks, or no access to safe transport at all.
Additionally, many NHS trusts reintroduced parking fees after free parking for NHS staff in England was scrapped in March 2022, making it expensive for many nurses to drive to work. In Scotland and Wales, parking at NHS hospitals continues to be free, while parking charges in Northern Ireland are set to be scrapped by 2024.
‘You hear stories of car parks where the lighting is bad’
RCN health, safety and well-being national officer Kim Sunley said that as reports of violence and threats towards NHS staff grow, more needs to be done to consider workers’ safety outside the hospital walls.
‘People are being pushed down dark alleyways to get to bus stops late at night, and waiting at bus stops for a long time,’ she told Nursing Standard. ‘You hear stories of poorly maintained car parks where the lighting is bad, and there’s antisocial behaviour going on at some of the sites as well.
‘Some organisations have good car parking accompanied by sustainable travel plans where they work with the local authority regarding access to buses.
‘But it is a mixed bag, and we often hear that parking is on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and people don’t necessarily get the car parking they want on site.’
Union wants ‘measures in place to improve safety’
The comments follow the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) call for an overhaul of NHS staff parking permits and accessible public transport options, which they made at the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Dundee last week.
The RCM said there is often a lack of public transport available at the right times because NHS staff are starting early in the morning and finishing late at night – which leaves driving as the only safe option.
But the ‘haphazard way’ employers allocate on-site parking permits often means staff cannot access parking close to where they work, the union added.
RCM director for Scotland Jaki Lambert said: ‘Employers, councils and the government cannot of course be there to protect staff travelling to work, but they can put measures in place to improve safety.’
Nurses should ‘highlight concerns’ with their employer
Ms Sunley encouraged anyone with concerns about parking and their safety to report it to their employer.
‘If shift patterns are being changed then highlight concerns where they are not going to align with sustainable travel,’ she said.
‘If anyone feels they’ve been followed, or their car has been vandalised, or they’ve been abused coming off an A&E shift, it’s really important to report these issues.’
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