Anger over plans to axe free parking for East Yorkshire hospital workers
HOSPITAL staff say they are furious about plans to change their terms and conditions, which include the introduction of car parking charges.
The proposed changes include losing free parking at East Yorkshire's two main hospitals.
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Changes: Staff at Hull Royal Infirmary may have to pay for their parking while at work, under proposed changes to their terms and conditions. Picture: Jerome Ellerby
A leaked correspondence shown to the Mail revealed car parking is one of a number of changes set to be made by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Castle Hill Hospital and Hull Royal Infirmary.
Other changes mentioned in the correspondence include reducing travel pay.
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The document ends with the line "these changes, particularly policy changes, will take place with or without union agreement".
Ray Gray, of Unison, said: "The thing that will really anger staff will be the free car parking.
With the trust being told it has to make significant savings of £99m over the next five years, Mr Gray says the atmosphere at the hospital is not a pleasant one.
Unison believes staff would have to pay about £30 per month for parking – going on what staff pay in Leeds.
He said: "It is not a nice place to be at the moment, but that isn't down to the staff, it is down to the Government.
"Some of the staff are the only breadwinners for their family. Pay freezes and having to pay for parking could be the difference between paying their mortgage or not.
"The NHS is dying and if it isn't given the kiss of life, it is going to die.
"A colleague of mine recently said, 'if we lose it, we won't ever get it back', and we need to remember that."
NHS workers, other than doctors, are paid according to a grading system known as the Agenda for Change.
The document was set up to lay out terms and conditions for workers and was negotiated by the Government, health departments, Unison and other health unions.
Certain changes have been made to the document nationally, including the amount of paid long-term sickness allowed.
Unison says the Hull and East Yorkshire Trust's own changes are not being properly discussed with them.
But hospitals trust chief executive Phil Morley says this isn't the case and that unions have been kept in the loop throughout.
He said: "We have £100m to save over the next five years.
"Some difficult decisions have to be taken to ensure we continue to provide high-quality patient services and we will continue to engage with the unions and our staff on every one of those decisions.
"The trust has held numerous discussions with Unison and other staff-side organisations about staff terms and conditions mentioned here.
"They are fully involved in all negotiation around on-call payments and protected pay for staff and they should have been communicating with their members.
"We are doing a significant amount of work around improving engagement with our staff and where car parking is concerned, we have invited every single member of staff to attend two engagement events to discuss how we provide staff car parking in the future."
When first published on February 15, 2013, this article stated that staff at Hull Royal Infirmary gave up two days of holiday for free parking. We are happy to clarify this is not the case. In return for free parking, staff exchanged two bank holiday Tuesdays (and the associated additional payments) for two days of annual leave. They lost no holiday days as part of this agreement.
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by richspice
Saturday, February 16 2013, 4:04PM
“Are the staff to get their two days of holiday back. Why do the con mps sorrry conservatives I think they prefere to be called always hit out at the service like the NHS is it because the rich can mange without them. As stated earlier it is against the law for medical staff such as doctors or nurses to strike so lets stick up for them as the servise they provide is priceless”
by spiderboy
Saturday, February 16 2013, 8:36AM
“STEALTH PAYCUT- THATS WHAT IT IS IN A NUTSHELL.”
by vivax74
Saturday, February 16 2013, 6:44AM
“BRING IN A LAW WHICH SHOULD SAY THAT EVERY COMMON MAN SHOULD GET THE SAME MINIMUM BASIC FACILITY THAT IS PROVIDED TO ANY RANDOMLY PICKED CONMEN IN WESTMINSTER. THIS COUNTRY WILL BE PROSPEROUS.
AND COMING TO CAR PARK, IT IS THE BIGGEST MONEY SPINNER FOR NHS TRUSTS. ANY TRUST THAT IS IN BLUE SHOULD INTRODUCE THIS; THEY WILL BE OUT OF BLUES IN NO TIME. DON'T BELIEVE ME? LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO ONE OF OUR NEIGHBOURING NHS HOSPITAL WHEN IT WAS TAKEN OVER BY ANOTHER NHS TRUST.”
by vivax74
Saturday, February 16 2013, 6:38AM
“GP200, true to your name, I am pretty sure that you are either a penpusher or a GP, who work by clock. For a person working in hospital, there is no such thing as working hours, its ALWAYS up and down depending upon the demands of the work. So, I am afraid, carsharing is not an option. And do you know the pattern of shifts in NHS? Have you ever worked in a shift that starts at 3PM and ends at mid night? Have you worked in a shift that expects you to be present at any time when help needed? Sometimes I feel that I should also work for penpushers departments in any NHS Trust”
by Demonica666
Friday, February 15 2013, 8:59PM
“I may be wrong, but I do not think that nurses can strike? I think they have a duty of care which means that they cannot put lives at risk by coming out on strike. Therefore, it is left to the public to speak for them? Form an orderly queue. I'm in.”
by Phil_melton
Friday, February 15 2013, 8:58PM
“unlucky.”
by thesnooper
Friday, February 15 2013, 7:14PM
“all the staff at hospitals should strike to get their 2 days holiday and free parking back, these people do a good job and dont deserve to be charged for the long hours they do”
by CReader
Friday, February 15 2013, 6:59PM
“Note to David Cameron- Get your rich chums at Starbucks, etc, to pay income tax and get George Osborne to pay the inheritance tax he evaded four years ago, and then the NHS workers would not be made to pay TWICE for their parking.”
by Ultio
Friday, February 15 2013, 6:54PM
“Direct spending priorities to NHS HUll-they were the clowns who spent healthcare money on a yacht, mobile apps for patients and dabbled with jobs schemes for youths instead of beds for the sick. At £112 billion you cant seriously suggest that organisation isnt getting enough cash-its wasted on courses, bureacracy, over-staffed admin depts and not spent on understaffed medical depts. If the clowns cant spend the fortune theyre allotted responsibly, its maybe time independent agencies are brought in to do so.”
by CReader
Friday, February 15 2013, 6:53PM
“So, let me get this right! Agree to lose two days holiday in exchange for free parking. Then, a new government comes along demanding the NHS saves billions, so then that agreement is torn up and you pay AGAIN for your parking?
In the meantime, when exactly are the Tories going to ask Starbucks, The Ritz, Ebay and Google for the income tax they owe us? (the same tax that can clear our national debt).
Britain under David Cameron- the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. 2015 is election time folks, quickly followed by another election to get rid of that other pig-in-the-trough Tory Matthew Grove and his best mate, Paul Dolittle.
This country will always need nurses, physiotherapists and other healthcare workers. It has never needed and will never need unelected, overpaid politicians....”