ERI streamlines free car parking system after staff complain of ‘chaos’ on first day

Free parking was introduced on Monday

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary has made several changes after new free parking arrangements brought in on Monday caused long delays to staff.

Nurses at the hospital complained of ‘chaos’ on Monday as car parking staff checking NHS ID badges caused long delays, making staff late for work.

Parking charges have been waived for three months at the ERI along with Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the only three NHS car parks in Scotland which still charge fees.

Barriers are now lifting more quickly.

But nurses criticised initial handling of the new arrangement, which involved car park staff checking each driver’s NHS ID badge, and called for the barriers on the car parks to be lifted as they are on Christmas Day.

Several changes have now been made, and while the barriers are still in place they are now raised when an NHS ID badge is shown, rather than staff having to wait for a ticket.

An NHS spokesperson said the barriers could not be completely lifted as there are many more staff in attendance than on Christmas Day, and there need to be traffic management systems in place to allow emergency access for blue light vehicles.

“We experienced some queuing on the first day that access to free parking at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was introduced, however we have been able to streamline the system this morning with the co-operation of staff. This resulted in a much smoother operation this morning,” said George Curley, Director of Operations – Facilities at NHS Lothian.

He added: “Given the reduction in outpatients and routine elective work, we have re-designated the smallest car parks in the short term, to ensure that we can accommodate patients and birth partners to the Simpsons maternity unit, Dialysis patients and those still attending Out Patient Departments.

“This temporary change has allowed us to assign the largest car parks to staff.”

Nurse Sharon Johnstone complained of ‘carnage’ on the first day of the new system, with staff ‘very late’ for work.

“You need to step in and lift the barriers,” she said in a tweet directed at Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.

Several other nurses had previously taken to social media to call for the barriers to be lifted, with one saying: “Just lift the barriers… surely it’s that simple. Who else is going to be driving to park at the hospital unless they’re going to work?

“And if there are any visitors, it’ll be in dire circumstances so surely they should get free parking too.”

“Please lift the barriers and see what happens. A small thing which will make a big impact on our lives as healthcare workers. If the car parks are inundated then we can think again,” added Consultant Anaesthetist Rachel Hignett.

Another nurse, who did not wish to be named, said free parking made the situation worse for staff yesterday as they are delayed getting into work.

“They were supposed to be making it free from yesterday but instead of lifting the barriers as they do on Christmas Day, they are blocking all car parks and only allowing us in to one, once we have shown our pass, obviously causing delays,” she said.

“The queues are extremely long, out to the main road with people waiting over 30 minutes and being made late for what will already be a busy and stressful day.”

The nurse, who would normally pay £7.20 per day, or £3 per night shift, to park at the hospital, added that the new arrangement is ‘actually not free’ as the government is footing the £950,000 bill for parking for three months.

“That money should be being spent on PPE for staff, and ventilators for patients,” she said, pointing to a Change.org petition calling on Consort Healthcare, which manages the three car parks in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow, to hand back the £950,000.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman previously asked companies owning the car parks to ‘support the national effort’ and waive the £950,000 fee, but they refused.

Consort could not be contacted for comment.

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