Nurses ‘being punished’ as local health board bosses impose hospital parking fines

By Lucy Ashton

Patients who spend more than four hours in a health board’s free car parks will be fined.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have decided to issue the penalties despite the Scottish Government scrapping parking charges at hospitals.

Other controls – including cutting the number of spaces – have also infuriated staff who say it is making them late for work.

Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, said: “The four-hour target time for A&E treatment has been ­consistently missed by the SNP government and so to allow people no more than four hours for parking before penalties are issued will not always be sufficient.

“Attending hospital can be an anxious time for patients and their loved ones and so the hassle and expense of parking should not add to that. It is simply shocking that hardworking NHS staff are having to pay through the nose or park miles away from hospitals.

“Considering NHS Scotland is not achieving its target of dealing with A&E patients within four hours, it is likely a significant number of people attending GRI will face that penalty charge. Even worse, people attending the GRI Maternity Department are very, very unlikely to be out within four hours so in all ­probability will face a fine.”

One medic said: “If you just work at QEUH you don’t get a permit. Upshot is deserted carparks, with only management and a few others parked, and nurses stressed out of their box coming to work at 7am trying to get few spaces with free access.

“A car park across the street costs £5 a day.

“Former FM Nicola Sturgeon abolished costs for parking but staff have to either park illegally, get there at 7am or pay £5. Staff are really stressed and unhappy.

“If you’ve kids to drop at nursery you’re stuffed, so it hits low wage workers/women most.”

Sticking up for exhausted nurses, Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie.

And a nurse at GRI said: “We’ve been told to get public transport instead of driving to work but that is all well and good until you are working a 12-hour shift and then have to spend another two to three hours getting home on buses.”

A health board spokesman said: “During peak times we operate a fair usage policy of a maximum stay of four hours for patient and visitor spaces to mitigate against the misuse of spaces by people who are not using the hospital.

“The majority of patients and visitors do not require more than four hours, however, where more than four hours are required, arrangements can be made.

“Only where parking has exceeded four hours, a car has been parked outwith a dedicated space or in an unsafe manner, would a penalty notice be issued.”

There is no word yet about whether the car parks at Vale of Leven Hospital, the Golden Jubilee Hospital, and the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley – notorious for being full to capacity – will eventually be included in this.

Top : Nurses doing stressful work such as shown at top of page this are being told to take a bus or a bike to work.