County healthcare workers may get parking permits

Sarah Murray said she had heard of workers having to walk long distances with heavy equipment

A parking permit scheme for healthcare workers is being proposed for Worcestershire.

Liberal Democrat councillors said the idea would help such workers who needed to park in residential areas with permit-only zones.

The party's motion follows a long-running campaign by its Worcester city councillor Sarah Murray, who said more than 400 residents had signed a petition supporting the initiative.

The county council will debate a motion calling for a scheme to be brought in at its full council meeting on Thursday.

Murray said she had heard of workers getting fines while attending patients and having to walk long distances with heavy equipment.

"Healthcare workers should not be punished for delivering care in our communities," she said.

"I hope councillors across the chamber will back this motion on Thursday."

Murray said more than 440 residents had signed a petition backing the scheme, with nurses and healthcare staff describing the daily struggle of parking while delivering essential care in the community.

The motion, which will be proposed by county councillor Mel Allcott, stated the city council "and other district councils that manage local parking enforcement on behalf of the county council have systems capable of issuing healthcare permits".

The councillors said an "essential attendance" permit scheme available to residents with care needs was "not designed for NHS staff providing mobile care and is not fit for urgent or time-critical healthcare visits".

"Residents often rely on others to obtain these permits on their behalf, and the scheme does not support emergency responses or end-of-life care at home.

"The absence of a healthcare permit scheme hinders healthcare delivery and places unnecessary stress and financial burden on key NHS staff."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.