Nottingham hospital trust staff parking permit shake-up revealed

The points-based system considers criteria like unsociable hours and distance from home

More than 1,200 members of staff working for Nottingham's hospitals will lose parking rights under a new system.

A points-based permit selection process has come in after years of planning.

Managers said they had received 9,600 applications for 3,037 parking spaces across the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.

The trust said 1,246 people would lose their permits while 1,939 stand to gain one in what bosses acknowledged was a "most sensitive issue".

Those losing their permits will have a period of "protection" from six weeks to 12 months, a trust board meeting on Thursday heard.

Transport options

The Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust employs about 20,000 members of staff and 1,800 bank and agency staff.

Two staff surveys were conducted in late 2021 to find out what was considered important in qualifying for a permit, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

These included blue badge holders, those working long or unsociable hours, distance to work and contractual commitments.

Andrew Chatten, director of estates and facilities, said: "The response led to a ranking of eligibility criteria to determine a points-based system for the award of a permit.

"We have worked to secure additional improvements for colleagues who are not eligible for a parking permit.

"We have secured longer operating hours on the Medilink service, a shuttle bus from Phoenix Park to the City Hospital and negotiated greatly-reduced tram season passes for staff."

'As good as it gets'

Anthony May, trust chief executive, said the process "has been a marathon and we know it's not over yet", adding the organisation had gone to the "ends of the earth" to make the system transparent.

He added: "I think this is probably the most sensitive issue in the trust apart from the integrated transport offer.

"We shouldn't forget that this trust has a fantastic integrated transport offer which is now much more reliable than previously.

"We really have pulled out all the stops to get people to and from the sites.

"Having been involved in on-site car parking for longer than I can remember, this is about as good as it gets in truth."