Nurses face £20 a day parking fee after trust scraps weekly pass

Staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham say they cannot afford to go to work, as hospital clamps down on staff parking in patient and visitor car parks

Nurses have told how they can no longer afford to go to work after an NHS hospital trust scrapped weekly car parking tickets for staff – forcing them to fork out £20 a day to park at work.
Since 2 December, staff working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham have been required to pay £20.40 a day, or up to £100 a week, to use the visitor car parks on site.
NHS trust cites lack of space as it clamps down on staff parking in patient and visitor car parks
It comes as the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) tries to clamp down on staff parking in patient and visitor car parks, as lack of spaces causes people to be late or miss appointments.
While some staff can access parking permits in an allocated staff car park, the trust says permits are limited and so are allocated according to staff members’ access to public transport.
Hospital staff and students on placement ‘stressed and upset’ over scrapped weekly pass
Second-year nursing student Gemma Donaldson told Nursing Standard that she will no longer be able to afford to attend her clinical placements, unless she is able to ‘get lucky’ and find a space on a residential road nearby.
‘We used to be able to get a £28 weekly pass, but they are no longer available for staff – they just put a sign up on the kiosk a few days before and we barely had any warning.
‘As students we don’t get paid, so having to pay £61 a week to do my three clinical placements just isn’t fair.
‘A few of us are in the same boat and feel really stressed and upset. I’m due in this week, but have no money to pay for parking. If I can’t find a free space nearby I’ll just have to come home, which will impact my studies and hours.’
Another nurse, Nikki Overs, wrote on social media: ‘I had to pay £20.40 for one day parking I’m now resorting to parking off site... it’s ridiculous we shouldn’t have to 1. Pay for parking to work 2. Have to stress before our shift has even started.’
Patients need car park access to get to appointments on time, says trust
UHB says it is exploring plans to build a new staff car park to address the ‘challenging’ situation. In the meantime, the trust is encouraging staff to use the bus pass scheme or the nearby University train station that connects to Birmingham New Street.
A spokesperson for the hospital said: ‘Parking at our hospitals can be challenging as we grow increasingly busy, and we acknowledge this can cause anxiety for some colleagues.
‘We must, however, ensure that our patients are able to access the patient car parks, where weekly tickets remain available to them, to reach their appointments on time. Unfortunately, parking spaces in the patients’ car park have been used by hospital staff who feel there is no alternative, and this has led to delays for some patients.
‘We are looking to bring on additional nearby staff car parking to support staff in the medium term, and we are actively developing plans for an additional multi-storey car park to alleviate car parking pressures for colleagues.’
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