PARKING MISERY FOR DOCTORS AND NURSES
Doncaster Today
NURSES and doctors are furious after being told they face being clamped for parking outside their clinics under tough new rules imposed by hospital bosses.
More spaces are being made available for patients and visitors to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and parking charges are being rigorously enforced.
Angry staff, used to parking outside their clinics for 70p a day, have been ignoring the rules, which came in ten days ago, moving aside cones and ignoring car park attendants.
One nurse, who did not want to be named, told the Free Press: "There is no contingency plan which means we simply haven't got anywhere to park. If you're coming in for an 8am start you haven't got a chance.
"They have stopped us parking on the road because they slapped a three hour maximum time on it, and the residents complain if we park outside their houses. Plus, when the nights start drawing in it's not safe for us to be walking down those streets in the dark."
Another, who again did not want to be named, said it also created stress before the working day had even begun: "Our job is stressful enough as it is without having to deal with all this before hand."
The nurse added: "We are in a situation where we could get clamped for parking outside our work. Some people come 30 or 40 miles to get here - what are they supposed to do, how are they to do their jobs?"
The area in question is outside the accident and emergency department and the chest and out patients' clinics, where charges have applied for 15 years. A newly cordoned off area is for patients and visitors only. The remaining spaces are available to anyone, but the full charge of £2.20 for four hours or more applies.
Staff have been told that if they fail to comply with the regulations the hospital is now legally able to clamp them.They have been told to park in the staff car park or elsewhere around the hospital. However, staff claim there aren't enough spaces.
Hospital bosses say the tough stance is part of moves to improve facilities for both patients and visitors. A spokesman for the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that 50 of the 69 spaces in the car park were taken up each day by staff.
She said: "Across the DRI site as a whole we have 1,300 car parking spaces, of which 1,200 are taken by staff. So there are just 100 car parking spaces for patients - but we have hundreds of outpatients alone in a typical working day, let alone visitors.
She added that "almost all" staff had adhered to the new regulations and that feedback from patients had been very positive.
Lack of parking has been a long-standing problem at the Thorne Road hospital, also causing problems for people who live in neighbouring streets that become congested with hospital users' cars.
The trust is planning a park and ride site with free shuttle buses every five minutes and CCTV and other security measures. Roy Tyson, director of facilities and commercial development, told the Free Press he expected some progress to have been made on the scheme, which has been put to Doncaster Council, by the end of the summer.
NURSES and doctors are furious after being told they face being clamped for parking outside their clinics under tough new rules imposed by hospital bosses.
More spaces are being made available for patients and visitors to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and parking charges are being rigorously enforced.
Angry staff, used to parking outside their clinics for 70p a day, have been ignoring the rules, which came in ten days ago, moving aside cones and ignoring car park attendants.
One nurse, who did not want to be named, told the Free Press: "There is no contingency plan which means we simply haven't got anywhere to park. If you're coming in for an 8am start you haven't got a chance.
"They have stopped us parking on the road because they slapped a three hour maximum time on it, and the residents complain if we park outside their houses. Plus, when the nights start drawing in it's not safe for us to be walking down those streets in the dark."
Another, who again did not want to be named, said it also created stress before the working day had even begun: "Our job is stressful enough as it is without having to deal with all this before hand."
The nurse added: "We are in a situation where we could get clamped for parking outside our work. Some people come 30 or 40 miles to get here - what are they supposed to do, how are they to do their jobs?"
The area in question is outside the accident and emergency department and the chest and out patients' clinics, where charges have applied for 15 years. A newly cordoned off area is for patients and visitors only. The remaining spaces are available to anyone, but the full charge of £2.20 for four hours or more applies.
Staff have been told that if they fail to comply with the regulations the hospital is now legally able to clamp them.They have been told to park in the staff car park or elsewhere around the hospital. However, staff claim there aren't enough spaces.
Hospital bosses say the tough stance is part of moves to improve facilities for both patients and visitors. A spokesman for the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that 50 of the 69 spaces in the car park were taken up each day by staff.
She said: "Across the DRI site as a whole we have 1,300 car parking spaces, of which 1,200 are taken by staff. So there are just 100 car parking spaces for patients - but we have hundreds of outpatients alone in a typical working day, let alone visitors.
She added that "almost all" staff had adhered to the new regulations and that feedback from patients had been very positive.
Lack of parking has been a long-standing problem at the Thorne Road hospital, also causing problems for people who live in neighbouring streets that become congested with hospital users' cars.
The trust is planning a park and ride site with free shuttle buses every five minutes and CCTV and other security measures. Roy Tyson, director of facilities and commercial development, told the Free Press he expected some progress to have been made on the scheme, which has been put to Doncaster Council, by the end of the summer.
posted by Neil Herron at 1:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home