Staff at hospitals across Nottinghamshire will not have to pay for parking - despite the charge being reintroduced across the country. NHS workers at hospitals in the city and wider county will avoid paying until at least later this year.
Parking fees were waived across the country at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, but Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced the end of the benefit from Friday, April 1. However, Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), the trust running Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, said it would not be reinforcing the charge until "early summer".
Andrew Chatten, director of estates and facilities at NUH, said the trust was implementing new automatic number plate recognition technology and a parking permit system for staff. "As a result of this, we will not reintroduce parking charges until the new system is up and running in early summer," he said.
Read more: Nottingham NHS worker diagnosed with bowel cancer after 'being told it was IBS'
“Parking is difficult at the moment and we are keen to make it easier. We have listened to feedback from our staff and we are designing the system based on the criteria they have chosen through surveys we held recently.”
Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH), the trust responsible for King's Mill Hospital, Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital, also said parking would remain free, but that this was being reviewed. A spokesperson said: "SFH is currently reviewing parking charges for staff and will not be reevoking parking charges for staff on 1 April."
The Government's move to reintroduce the charge has been widely criticised by unions and NHS support groups. Mike Scott, spokesman for the Nottingham branch of Keep Our NHS Public, said: “While KONP understands that car parking charges raise much-needed money for patient care, it’s quite unreasonable to charge staff, patients and visitors, especially those who have to travel long distances to the QMC and City hospitals.
"The blame for this situation must fall squarely on the Government, which has consistently failed to fund the NHS properly, leaving Trusts to fill the gaps from any available source. It’s important that Trusts make this point loudly and clearly and Keep Our NHS Public will support them all the way in doing that. We’re all entitled to a first-class health service and it’s the responsibility of the Government to make this a top priority – warm words are not enough."
The Department of Health and Social Care said that the broader policy was temporary and had been introduced "for the duration of the pandemic". In a written statement, Mr Javid said: "On behalf of the Government, I would like to record my thanks to everyone who has worked tirelessly to keep people safe over the last two years and whose efforts have enabled us to move to the next stage of the Covid-19 response."
