KGH nurse considering leaving over staff parking problems

A nurse at Kettering General Hospital says she is so fed up of being unable to park she is considering leaving her job.
Kettering General HospitalKettering General Hospital
Kettering General Hospital

Lin Richards joined the hospital in August 2017 after relocating to Oakham, having previously worked at Broomfield Hospital in Essex.

She has been waiting for a staff parking permit since she took the job and has taken the hit of two parking tickets costing almost £200 to ensure she’s at work on time.

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Lin, who has been a registered nurse for 43 years, said: “I have never worked in a trust where the parking facilities for staff are so bad.”

When Lin works during the day she leaves her house at 6am to be on duty at 7am.

She regularly arrives at the hospital at 6.40am and there are spaces in the staff parking zone - but because she has no permit she cannot park there.

She has hit out at the parking policy and thinks it should be first come first served.

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She said: “If I park outside the hospital I have to walk for miles and I can’t do that.

“When I work nights where do I park that’s safe?

“Do I have to ring them up and say I cannot work because I can’t park?

“I’m really getting quite fed up of it to the point where I’m considering leaving.”

She added that she has been told it will be a year until she gets a permit and she feels she is being punished for wanting to be on duty on time by taking the drastic measure of parking knowing she will be fined.

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In response to Lin’s concerns, KGH’s director of human resources and organisational development, Mark Smith, issued the following statement.

It says: “Over the last year the trust has opened its decking system to improve patient and visitor car parking and this has significantly eased congestion on site.

“Next we are looking at how we can best support staff car parking.

“While we have consulted with staff on some new proposals the new arrangements have not yet been finalised.

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“We currently employ more than 4,000 staff and have 680 staff spaces on the main hospital site and 475 staff places at our nearby staff car parks.

“While this is a considerable number of staff spaces it does mean we remain challenged to meet the demand for staff car parking.

“We are hopeful that our new arrangements will go some way to resolving these issues.“

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