Councillors are being asked to help hospital workers who struggle to pay for parking charges when working long and unsociable hours.
Kemp Town resident Robert Brown is calling on Brighton and Hove City Council to look at potential parking permit options for essential workers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton.
Mr Brown, who has twice stood for election as a Liberal Democrat in the area, said that NHS workers had to pay more than £50 a week to park.
He became aware that new staff at the hospital were asking for free or low-rate parking places on social media.
And he said that many of those working long shifts were not able to afford to live in Brighton because of high rents.
Mr Brown said: “They are having to drive in from nearly villages and neighbouring towns at various times due to their shifts, which often do not align with regular early/late bus routes.
“There is no affordable parking for them to access on-site and the nearest they could go – Asda carpark – would only give them four hours maximum free parking.
“Liberal Democrats believe that more needs to be done to support those who are working not just in our hospitals, yet other vital services such as home visit care workers, emergency workers across the board and others.”
Like many parts of the NHS, the Royal Sussex has had a high turnover of staff, a high vacancy rate and has also faced challenges recruiting.
After Labour won a majority in May last year, the council reversed a move by the previous Green administration to triple parking charges around the hospital and in some other areas.
Mr Brown is expected to ask councillors to help hospital workers at a meeting of the full council.
The meeting is due start at 4.30pm on Thursday (19 December) at Hove Town Hall and is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
What happened to the Park & Ride scheme from the racecourse? A monthly permit for £10 sounds great [if you can get one].
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/20036094.brighton-hospital-workers-pay-park-ride-service/
“If staff meet the criteria for a permit, the cost depends on how much they earn,” said the spokesman.
“In Brighton, staff earning up to £25,000 are charged £10 a month to use our park and ride services at Brighton Racecourse, Whitehawk and the city centre. Staff earning above £25,000 are charged between £25 and £60 a month for a permit.
“The money raised pays for the rent of private parking and transport costs to get staff to and from work.”
It’s a shame the hospital are unwilling to offer parking discounts for their staff. Zone H had a major problem when keyworker parking was still a thing too.
I’m still hopeful for a decent park and ride scheme, aligned with the standard handover shift times.
I appreciate the energy of Mr Brown here, I think we absolutely need to get a grip on the high turnover rate of staff within the NHS. Although, I think it is less about parking, and more to do with the ingrained toxic culture.
BHCC are only interested in screwing money out of the hated motorist. Everybody should walk or hire a ludicrously expensive Beryl bikes according to council dogma as they try to force ‘modal shift’ on residents.
What we really need is a modal shift in the Council.
On the Argus Website, it’s says B&H Council made 30 Million in Parking Charges last year-who gets to see that within the City-hardly fill in the Potholes in around the City.
They managed to under-spend the road maintenance budget last year
Fancy building a new hospital without adequate parking space. Perhaps the helicopter could be used to get staff from an out of town park and ride ?
Why just staff? What about those family members who have to visit long term patients or those who need to use the hospital regularly. Charging people to park at any hospital is just plain wrong.
Long term patients and family usually have dispensation at many hospitals to park regularly.
it really wouldnt be any hardship to eliminate parking fees a half mile around the hospital for all to use!
When free keyworker parking was introduced to zone H during COVID, it created lots of antisocial parking issues and thousands of pounds of damage to the green spaces in the local area.
They have use of the Brighton racecourse for extra parking which includes a hospital staff only shuttle minibus to and from the hospital which is paid for by the University hospitals trust, it includes there own are which is just for uni hospital staff cars. Either the staff this article refers to, do not know this exists or refuse to use it.