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An emergency department worker who received two parking fines while undergoing surgery has slammed the NHS for charging staff to park their cars.
Claire Maloney, from Gillingham, was rushed in for surgery after falling ill during a late shift at Medway Maritime Hospital, where she works in A&E.
Mrs Maloney, who started working at the Gillingham hospital in early September as an administration clerk, is still waiting for her parking permit.
She says managers told her to place a note in her car window while she was parked in the dedicated staff parking zone.
Her note stated she is “emergency department staff awaiting permit” and included the contact details for the emergency desk and her own phone number.
“I did that for about two weeks and had no problems,” she said.
“But I was unexpectedly admitted for surgery when I was on shift and discharged four days later and came back to two fines.”
She says she was never contacted while she was recovering on the ward from a uterus infection and returned to her car to find the two tickets totalling £120.
An appeal has been launched and is set to be heard this week.
Mrs Maloney says she’s backing calls to remove parking charges for NHS staff saying they “penalise” health workers.
“It doesn’t seem very fair because you want to be there to help people,” she added.
“There’s so many people that struggle with how it’s being dealt with. They feel like they’re not really going to be heard.
“I do understand the NHS need to get their funding from somewhere but I don’t think that charging staff is really the answer.”
The penalty notice issued by First Parking, the firm which manages the hospital’s car parks, states the ticket was issued because Mrs Maloney had “parked without clearly displaying a valid permit”.
Mrs Maloney, 23, added: “I read on the intranet they wouldn’t be sending tickets to people while they were sorting this new permit.
“I was given an application form but that was all I was told officially.
“Sometimes I finish at midnight and I can’t afford to pay for the visitor car park because it’s £8 per shift.”
A new system is being introduced by the Medway NHS Trust at the hospital with permits reportedly taking up to two months to arrive.
The cost is calculated as a percentage of a staff member’s wage, taking their role and salary band into account and is then deducted from their monthly pay packet.
A separate permit scheme allows staff to use a park and ride scheme at Chatham Dockside. The last bus runs at 11.30pm and starts shortly after 5am.
Mrs Maloney says she’s unable to use the Dockside service because some shifts finish too late to use the shuttle and using it would add 45 minutes to her commute as she only lives a 10-minute drive from work.
“It’s really difficult for someone in my position,” she said. “My job is quite full on dealing with people in a state of emergency and need to be available whenever.”
Medway NHS Trust executive director of estates and facilities Gary Lupton said the trust had carried out a recent review of parking arrangements to “create a fairer system for all staff”.
He said: “New staff members who apply for a permit are informed the process can take up to four weeks and are offered a space at our off site parking facility while their application is being processed.
“Last week we introduced enforcement to enable staff with valid permits to park on site. This move was supported by staff paying for permits but unable to park due to non-compliant parking. The date was communicated widely across the Trust.” First Parking has been contacted for a comment.
The Medway NHS Trust says it is introducing a free bus for staff living close to the hospital but did not commit to talks with the unions to remove fees.
Executive director of estates and facilities Gary Lupton insisted charges are fair, saying: “Staff are charged on a sliding scale dependent on salary and the hours they work. Our rates are some of the lowest in the south east. We have no plans to remove parking charges for staff.
“We have held several forums with staff, including representatives from unions, to gain their feedback and input into parking options.”
Mr Lupton admitted staff struggled to find spaces as people are parking in allocated staff areas without permits.
He added: “We are working to stop this and would ask members of the public to park in the areas designated for them when visiting the hospital.
“We are trialling a partnership with Arriva buses to offer free bus travel to our staff within a two mile radius of the hospital. This partnership is the first of its kind in the NHS.
“All profits are invested back into clinical care.”
