Fuming NHS heroes who have worked through the deadly Covid-19 pandemic are 'insulted' after being handed a tea or coffee voucher as a 'reward' for their efforts.
The tokens, costing £1.20, must be redeemed by staff at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) by the end of March.
Hospital chiefs cited the vouchers as a 'small token of appreciation' for the 'incredible work and extremely challenging circumstances'.
It comes weeks after Little France bosses were forced to walk back part of initial plans to remove free parking in favour of a park and ride scheme five miles away.
One outraged worker said they are 'losing the will to work' and slammed the move as 'demoralising and scandalous'.
Staff were informed of the vouchers in an email on Wednesday, Edinburgh Live reports.
It read: “Colleagues, I must start by acknowledging and thanking you for the incredible work you do and continue to do in extremely challenging circumstances.
“As a small token of appreciation, vouchers to the value of £1.20 will be distributed from Wednesday this week.
“The voucher can be used in Coffee Club/Link Bridge or Cafe/Canteen towards any item
“Thank you again for all you do for our patients and for each other.”
The voucher itself features the message "Thank you for all that you do" above a warning it must be used by March 31.
One hospital worker, who asked not to be identified, said: "It is a scandalous offer.
"This amount is obviously nowhere near enough to cover the bus fare expenses as a result of car parking restrictions recently.
"This minuscule amount only made me feel even more demoralised and furious. I'm really losing my will to work in RIE any more."
Nursing staff previously raised concerns over changes to the parking scheme after proposals were put forward for a 'points based' system that would have removed free access for thousands of workers.
Free shuttle services running between Sherriffhall Park and Ride run from 5.45am to 8.30am and from 4.15pm to 8pm, however the timings cut off many frontline staff from utilising them due to exhausting 12-hour shifts.
Instead, they are forced to use Lothian Buses services - which charge £1.80 for a single ticket and added up to 90 minutes to the journey.
NHS Lothian has now announced the health board would be expanding car park access to all staff arriving on site from 11.30am onwards on a trial basis, while shuttles will run until 9.15pm, however many feel the changes do not go far enough.
Janis Butler, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, NHS Lothian, hailed the voucher scheme as just one way bosses are thanking staff.
She added: "The health and wellbeing of our staff is very important to us, and we are extremely grateful to all of our staff for their continuing hard work and dedication to our patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Coffee and tea vouchers are just one example from a range of staff wellbeing initiatives in place across NHS Lothian including psychological support and a peer support service ”
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