Peterborough Hospital Protest

21 October 2010, 14:52 | Updated: 21 October 2010, 15:25

Members of the public service union Unison met outside a Peterborough Hospital earlier, to protest against increased staff parking charges.

The changes mean that all staff who currently pay £1 a day will have to pay £2 a day.

That's an extra £5 a week, or £40 pounds a month.

Patient and visitor parking charges will not increase.

It's partly because the NHS wants to encourage staff to use sustainable forms of transport like buses, bicycles and trains to get to work.

Nick Barnard, a support worker for the mental health crisis team, said: "I cover a big area.

I have to go out to places like Wisbech and March probably sometimes twice or three times a day.

It just wouldn't be practical for me to get a bus or use a bike."

A spokesperson for Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "18 months ago we separated our patient parking from our staff parking to enable patients and visitors better access to parking.

This resulted in our staff car parks being ‘graded’ – some car parks cost £2.00 a day to park in and others remained at £1.00 a day.

As we move to the new Peterborough City Hospital we need to create a flat rate of £2.00 a day for staff parking. For some members of staff this will not cause an increase to their current charges.

All money generated from parking charges is used to maintain safe, secure car parking facilities for both staff and patients.

This decision forms part of the Trust’s long-term Travel Plan and also encourages anyone accessing PCH to think about the more sustainable travel options available to them.

We appreciate that the change in circumstances will cause inconvenience to some staff and are doing all we can to avoid this where possible.

PCH is accessible in a variety of ways and staff have been provided with personalised travel plans detailing the various transport options available to them specifically."