Hero frontline medics are being hit with parking tickets and huge queues at Scotland’s superhospital after a return to pre-Covid restrictions sparked mayhem this week.
Staff at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital said they are being forced to abandon their cars on double yellow lines and verges after queuing for up to 45 minutes and being turned away from half-empty multi-storeys.
The health board said parking had simply returned to pre-pandemic rules prioritising patients and staff permits, after regulations were temporarily relaxed due to a reduction in the amount of vehicles on site.
But workers say the race for a space is worse than ever and the Record observed parking attendants ticketing dozens of double-parked vehicles while nearby car parks had plenty of room.
One furious medic said: “Staff are being turned away from the multi-storey car parks and told to either find a non-permit space or take public transport.
"This includes nurses and junior doctors. In my experience, it is often consultants, management, secretaries and senior nurses who have received parking permits.
“This is not the best way to treat staff who have stepped up during two waves of Covid-19 and surely there should be some provision in the Govan area for a multi-storey car park for staff?”
Workers also took to social media to vent their frustrations.
One nurse said: “So sad to see the mayhem due to lack of staff parking today at the QEUH site. No problem for the past year during the pandemic.
“People just trying to get in to work to look after patients – often working beyond their shift times and have no viable public transport alternative. Just sad that lessons haven’t been learned.”
Scottish Labour’s Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie yesterday called for an urgent solution.
She said: “After the work these staff have done over the last year-and-a-half, you would think access to parking is the least they could expect. Once again, the workers we all clapped for during lockdown are being let down when it matters.
"This is not what a fair recovery from Covid looks like.
“If the parking system that was in place during the pandemic was working, the decision to revoke it is baffling.
“NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde must work with staff to find a solution to this.”
The health board says staff permits are allocated on how often staff need to use a car to undertake NHS duties and supply and demand at each site.
It said all hospital staff were given advanced warning of the reintroduction of managed car parking services on Monday.
An NHSGGC spokeswoman said: “It is important that we ensure spaces designated for patients and visitors are available to them.
“At the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital site, there are 1316 spaces for staff permit holders and a further 760 spaces for staff who don’t have a permit.
“This means that 56 per cent of parking spaces on campus are designated for our staff.
“While we understand the concerns of some QEUH staff, we are reverting to our previous, pre-pandemic parking arrangement.”
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