We can’t afford to pay high parking charges for work, say nurses
Posted 27 May 2022 - 10:00
As staff at one trust lodge complaint over the reintroduction of parking charges, nurses on Nursing Standard’s Facebook pages report facing higher fees
Nurses have told of fees they are paying to park their cars at work – with some turning to off-street parking due to a lack of availability at their trust.
It comes as nurses and other hospital staff made an official complaint about the reintroduction of parking charges at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, run by Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Unison said the move will hit cash-strapped nurses, with NHS staff being forced to pay at least £15 a day.
Some nurses unable to find on-site hospital parking
But taking to Nursing Standard’s Facebook pages, many nurses reported facing much higher fees.
One nurse said a ‘gold permit’ at her trust cost as much as £120 per month, while other permits left staff around £60 per month out of pocket.
While another said: ‘£10 a week for a visitors pass as my trust has not been accepting applications for staff permits for the past two years.’
Other nurses said they were paying anywhere between £6 and £12 per day, with some saying they cannot find on-site hospital parking.
End of free parking for staff in England and Northern Ireland
Many pointed out asking staff to pay for parking was unfair and often unaffordable.
‘I think it should be free you shouldn’t have to pay to go to work, or the NHS should put the cost in your wages,’ one nurse wrote.
Another said: ‘It just shouldn’t be allowed, paying to park at your own place of work. My trust charges 1% of your salary annually.’
NHS trusts and boards in Wales and Scotland do not charge staff for parking. But free parking for staff in England and Northern Ireland, which was introduced due to the pandemic, ended last month, with some trusts starting to charge again.
Raise fee concerns with your union, urges Unison
Unison is supporting hundreds of staff in a collective grievance – a way for a group of staff to make a joint complaint – against Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following the reintroduction of parking charges.
The union is encouraging any nurses or healthcare staff worried about parking charges to raise those concerns with their union.
Head of health at Unison Sara Gorton said: ‘Raising an issue with your manager can often be the simplest way to resolve a workplace problem, but many people feel scared or unsure of how to do this.
‘The union can help and support you to approach this and, if your manager doesn’t want to help, can take up the issue with the trust's HR department. This low-level intervention is often enough to bring about a solution.’
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