Parking charges for Conquest Hospital staff to rise

A nurse at the hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, said the recent Government pay rise awarded to NHS staff was cancelled out due to the rise in parking fees. She said: “If we do not buy a ticket we get fined and this fine is then sold on to a debt company which places more than £100 on the £1 parking ticket.”

A spokesman for the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the Conquest and Eastbourne DGH, said: “Following a review, the staff parking tariff was increased from £1 to £1.50 for full-time staff and 80p for concession and part-time staff on August 1. There will be a further increase to £2 for full-time staff and £1 for concession and part-time staff on April 1, 2019.

“This is the first time staff car parking tariffs have been increased since 2012. In that time we have seen an increased demand for staff parking spaces at both main hospital sites.

“We need to address this problem which frustrates many members of staff. Our approach is to increase parking capacity while at the same time introducing schemes to reduce demand for spaces over the longer term. Charges must be set to incentivise use of the car sharing scheme as well as alternative methods of travel to the sites.

“The increase in funds will be used to help fund additional parking spaces that have been identified on both sites, close to the main hospitals and also help to fund healthier transport schemes that will encourage staff to use alternative means of travel to the hospital sites.”