NHS parking dilemma

[Buniadot]

Let me preface this that I am grateful to all the NHS workers for their hard work and dedication to their job.

I've wanted to start this thread as I've recently seen numerous debates about this on social media. Oftentimes someone's complaining that NHS workers are parking their cars on residential streets where parking is available at the trust. The post usually has a plethora of comments ranging from those agreeing it's a nuisance to those saying it's reasonable.

I have made a few observations myself, I am aware that they may make me sound like an AH but they seem the most logical to me.

• if parking is available at the workplace then it should be used (whether free or not)
• to address expensive parking, almost all workplaces don't offer free parking, doesn't matter what industry. A lot of workers aside from NHS, pay for parking and live.
• to address antisocial hours, as above, there are other industries that won't necessarily have free parking and have to pay for it
• the NHS offers good job stability in this day and age (always understaffed so not much chance of losing your job, they need you), fantastic pension, the pay isn't great but also not out of the norm, discounts for on site nurseries etc, overall don't the benefits outweigh the cost of parking?
• to clarify, I do understand if there's no parking available then absolutely look for an alternative but I find it cheeky to use residential roads when there's ample parking available at some trusts.
• I can see why people get frustrated with there being no space near their house because of people that work. Now before people say 'buy a house with a drive' it's sometimes not possible, some get house by council and are grateful for what they have, or some that own their house may not be able to afford one with a driveway. It's cheaper to pay for parking at your workplace thank buy a house with a driveway.

So, AITA for thinking that being an NHS worker doesn't exempt you from paying for parking and you should be more considerate to residents in the area?

I hope we can all have a discussion about your views.

Waiting list for staff parking locally, but unless you live more than 15 miles away you will not get a permit. This is irrespective of bus options or other things like trams. They are losing good staff you can’t be arsed with this stuff. Other local hospitals will provide staff parking for all, often foc

I live a 15 min walk from hospital so have a lot of cars on our road from staff who don't want to use the free park and ride which is a further 15 min walk away. I can't get excited about people parking on the road generally but we have started a request to make our road permit parking only in an attempt to limit the nightmare of people blocking us in. If we have a holiday booked we have to leave our car on the road the night before as we've been so badly blocked in at times. Usually people overhang a bit so we can get out but then not back in. It's all hospital staff or residents on our road so it's frustrating that they can't park more thoughtfully which would mean the road could remain zoneless which has advantages for everyone. I have tried not to complain about it over the past 10 years as other roads get blocked much worse with hospital parking but as they gradually increased restrictions our road has become the parking place of choice. I think its fine to charge staff for parking too where patients also pay, I'd like all parking to be free but think that's unrealistic. My own office decided to move to a new location without parking so I pay £22 a day to park within a 15 min walk from my office now.

Even if someone is willing to pay up to £20 to park for the pleasure of working in terrible conditions there physically aren't enough spaces in most hospital car parks. There should be ample, affordable parking or decent shuttle buses etc, but as there isn't who can blame them? I'd so the same!

Do people really think that people go into nursing for the perks? Good pension if you make it that long to benefit from it.
On site nurseries ( on rare sites that have them) are private nurseries, not just for nurses kids. The fees are no cheaper.
Also, the comment that pay isn't great but not out of the norm is nonsense, nothing about nursing is the norm. People act like nurses should have less expectations of their employer because they work in the NHS.
The warm fuzzy feeling nurses get from helping people doesn't pay bills

The area near our hospital is now residents only they actually asked the council for it
park due to hospital staff parking like complete dicks
of course any taxed insured car can park anywhere
but they were over hanging drives parking on junction corners and generally parking inconsiderately

• if parking is available at the workplace then it should be used (whether free or not)

I completely disagree. If NHS workers don’t want to spend their money on parking at the paid for workplace car park when they can instead legally park for free in a nearby residential road then they are totally within their rights to do so.

I say that as someone who lives just outside a residential permit parking area so a lot of commuters park on my road for the day and walk to the local tube station. Perfectly sensible thing to do. I don’t own the road and neither do my neighbours.

I have been waiting for over a year for a parking permit at one of the sites I work at, and staff are not allowed to park onsite for another site. (Community role)

YABVU big time

when I worked in a town I parked in free street parking and walked half a mile into town as I couldn’t afford to pay for the car park

I still do it if I go into town now whenever I can

there's a col crisis on and for some people it’s as bad as pay for parking or food

So quite often it is because we are not allowed to park on site.

Here in Scotland, NHS staff aren't charged for parking on hospital grounds. The idea seems ludicrous to me - if a workplace has onsite parking it should be free 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sounds a bargain

At my place of work you can pay £10 a day to park on site or £7 at a nearby public car park that offers a discount providing you arrive and leave at the right times. Everywhere else is more expensive.

Not NHS private sector in a provincial city.

Err yeah but you can't get a space! SNP soundbite

My last hospital placement cost me £300 to park for 5 weeks. On £12 an hour it's no wonder loads of students are dropping out.

I work in an NHS Trust, the staff parking charge relates to your salary banding. I am part time, low band, I pay less than £10 per month. The land used for car parking is privately owned. You need to be there by 9,00 am though to get a space.

All residential roads around are residents only, so staff can’t park there. The travel office can turn you down if you live close or are on a bus route or don’t have caring responsibilities, or don’t have to go off site for home visits etc.

I used to work for the NHS. We had a car park- we weren’t allowed to park there. We had to park in nearby roads. No restrictions. Some residents didn’t like it. A colleague got their car keyed. We actually had complaints about our community nurses parking in residential roads. I mean come on. The clue is in the name. You just hope it’s not them Or a relative ever needing care at home. Absolutely ridiculous. The road does not belong to you!

I understand it’s frustrating, parking on residential streets for anyone other residents is annoying , creating another problem……..

YABU. I don’t work for the NHS and park on a residential street the two days I go to work via train. As I’m allowed to do. I don’t park on permit streets as I’m not allowed as I don’t have a permit.

So long as it’s legal, anyone can park anywhere and no one has a right to be annoyed about it. If parking near your house is THAT important to you, make life changes so you can have a drive, or not live near a major workplace.

@innerdesign you can where I can work...
and 🙄 at the SNP comment, I wasn't even thinking politics, just stating facts.

I pay for the privilege of a parking permit at the hospital I work at but often can’t get a space if have been out on community visits and return to the hospital. My car has to be dumped wherever is legal or I would be late for patients waiting in outpatient clinics.

After reading the comments so far, I can see that I am mostly considered TA, I can live with that.
There were some good points raised.

Lots raised that there are no other options, I can sympathise for the most part, still doesn't mean it's not frustrating that you've been at work all day, paid to park at work, and then get home to find no space within a few roads of your house. As someone suggested, you don't have a right to park right outside, and that's fine and expected on let's say a terraced road, but it's not unreasonable to want to find a space.

@Flavabobble it's not much policing as common courtesy, re paying for parking at a workplace, I've only had one workplace not charge for parking, and that's because it was on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere. I can agree that there shouldn't be charges but since there are, it's something that's part of getting to work.

@AnnaMagnani I'm sorry to hear that, is that still for a paid parking permit? Is there no pay and display available regardless of the permits? I know each trust works differently.

@Raincloudsonasunnyday from my experience (which may be very different to yours) train stations have car parks that are used by those commuting, and for the majority of London there are plenty of buses getting you to tube stations and depending on area there are plenty stations within walking distance. So they should all show consideration, I don't think NHS workers should be exempt from that though. When it comes to school drop offs and pick ups, people park for that for 30mins mostly, not a whole shift.

@Finbrek I guess that depends on the area and what public transport is available. Driving a car to work is not a luxury, but if it's also not unreasonable to pay for parking. You do it wherever you go and don't question is, so why is it different for work (in any industry).

@Saschka my local trust has 5 massive (sizes of a field each) staff car parks and 1 patient pay and display one. 1 overflow car park as well. A lot of the times they are empty, but as @AnnaMagnani mentioned this could be due to permits. As for the parking permit, I have raised it to the council and am waiting for a reply. I know it's a lose lose but it does get irritating after a while.

@lemonsqueezyeasy I very much would, it's strange that the 5 mile rule was created in an area where you can really get to and from work in a timely manner. In London it would absolutely make sense, in a rural area not so much.

@reflecting2023 yes, and? I wanted to hear other people's opinions on this. I'm personally not affected by my local trust as not walking distance, but by people that work in town. If you don't want to participate in the discussion you don't have to.

@kweeble thank you, I'm luckily not affected by my local trust, thread was inspired by many posts that I've seen. I am affected by people who work in the local town centre though. As you said, all these schemes should be encouraged and should run with corresponding shift times, many have said that shuttle buses run 9-5, which seems silly considering the majority of workers don't work that.

@olympicsrock when travelling between sites in work hours shouldn't all expenses associated with that be paid back? Ie you pay the initial parking because you do have to go to work, but if work sends you somewhere else then they should pay.

It's ridiculous that something that was working for staff and patients has been turned into expensive private car parks

So often the NHS staff car parks are not big enough.

Or you might work somewhere with multiple sites with different rules in each. I work across all our sites so there is one with a free car park, one with a staff car park that needs a permit but is open with no barrier so it gets full of visitors and 2 with permit and barrier.

Now imagine being based at the one with permit but no barrier. A couple of times a year you need to attend training at the other sites. Your permit means you can park in any of the other sites. But you don't have a swipe for their barriers. So you can park in the streets or pay to park in visitors. But you already pay for your permit so you don't want to pay again. Or you might be based at the one with a free car park and not have a permit but also a couple of times a year need to attend training elsewhere. One of the permit sites is really tricky to park anywhere other than on site but on site gets full. Pain in the bum. Needs a multistory really but 1. Funding and 2. Where does everybody park while it is being built?

No time for curtain twitching when you're working two jobs, pay for parking at them, yet can't find a space near your house because someone else doesn't want to pay for parking at their job 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yours and my ideas of a bargain are different. At the time I worked for the trust I was a single parent, band 5, no unsociable, £750 a month nursery bill. I could barely afford to
get to work. Let alone use the parking. I brought home £1800 pm and parked in the surrounding streets to get to work.

Maybe the trust near me is an anomaly then as there is an onsite nursery with staff's kids getting priority and discounts.