NHS car park scandal: Anger as hospital bosses get free parking
BOSSES at a hard-up hospital are given free parking while low-paid nurses have to pay around £600 a year.
Bosses at Derriford Hospital are given free parking while nurses have to pay around £600 a year
The perk is handed out to NHS trust directors, even though they need only attend six meetings a year.
Many full-time staff, meanwhile, are being forced to use public transport because they cannot afford the £2.50 daily parking charges at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon.
The controversy was revealed when hospital bosses warned workers they may now have to pay £3 a day to ease its financial pressures.
Daily permits at Derriford were already doubled from £1.25 two years ago when parking slots were cut by 700 to make way for a helipad.
Daily permits at Derriford were already doubled from £1.25 two years ago
There are now 1,800 spaces for 6,000 staff.
I’ll have to take two buses to get here in time for a 7.30am shift
However, free parking is still given to six non-executive board members at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.
One nurse said: “I work very hard and don’t earn a great deal.
“I’ll have to take two buses to get here in time for a 7.30am shift.”
Many staff are being forced to use public transport because they cannot afford the parking charges
NHS hospitals rake in up to £3.7million a year from parking charges
Suzy Franklin, Unison branch secretary at the hospital, branded the free permits for senior staff as “a joke”.
Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said: “All non-executive directors in England can be remunerated for travel costs as part of terms agreed nationally.”
Meanwhile, visitors face paying £12 a day to park at the hospital.
The Daily Express recently revealed NHS hospitals rake in up to £3.7million a year from parking charges.
Some 3,500 readers backed the paper’s call for an end to charges.