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Health staff pay price for parking problems

by Carl Marsden
11/ 6/2008

HEALTH chiefs are cutting the number of parking permits for Royal Oldham Hospital staff in a bid to free up spaces for patients and visitors.

More than 4,200 application forms have been posted out, and permits will be re-allocated on a new points system based on staff’s personal circumstances and duties.

Unions say they have not been fully consulted and want hospital parking charges to end.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show £477,393 was raised in charges at the site in 2006/7. Patients and visitors paid £296,083 while staff contributed £181,510.

Parking costs £1.70 for the first four hours, £3.50 for four-10 hours, £5 for 10-24 hours, and £9.50 for a seven-day parking ticket. Staff can currently get a monthly ticket for £14.

Pennine Acute Trust officials say that pricing is in line with other Greater Manchester hospitals and that efforts to encourage staff to car-share or use public transport have had little effect.

"We have to reduce staff parking permits because primarily we’re here to serve patients and they have to come first", a spokesman told the Advertiser. "Priority will be given to those working unsociable hours, for example, those with care responsibilities for children or elderly relatives – or if staff work across various sites. We don’t get many complaints about the charges but anyone who visits the hospital knows the main problem is about being unable to park. Patients have missed clinics and appointments and we’ve even had emergency services struggling to get people in because of parked cars obstructing pavements. People visiting can have all kinds of problems, including mobility and vision, and there are obvious reasons why routes must be clear."

Pennine says money raised by charging is spent on site security and enforcement and that charges are fixed at the present levels until at least 2010. Staff who do not get a permit would still have the option to park in public spaces.

The Royal Oldham site currently has 1,255 parking spaces, including 186 temporary places at the former Westhulme buildings which the trust is now looking to sell.

In the light of last week’s approval for a new £17m radiotherapy centre, the trust will submit a planning application for a new multi-storey car park providing up to 500 new paid-for spaces.

But David Berna-sconi, Unison’s Oldham branch secretary, said hospitals in Wales stopped charging pat-ients on April 1, and claimed many staff were unhappy about the permits review.

"We thought there might be a move away from charging so this is disappointing," he said. "Many front-line staff like nurses and porters work unsociable hours and outside of good times for public transport, so we are concerned."