Worthing nurses fined while visiting patients, union claim (From The Argus)

Worthing nurses fined while visiting patients, union claim

2:00pm Tuesday 12th April 2011 in News By Siobhan Ryan

Nurses are being hit by parking fines while visiting patients in their homes.

Community nurses at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are issued with healthcare parking permits to allow them to leave their cars in restricted parking zones around Worthing.

But Worthing Borough Council said the system was being abused by some workers and has launched a crackdown.

Union bosses have criticised the council's move, saying many workers are being wrongly penalised and then have to waste their time appealing against the decision.

Sussex Partnership Unison branch secretary Peter Atkinson said: “It is basically using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

“If there has been a problem with one or two people then they should be concentrating on tracing the individuals involved instead of having this blanket policy.

“We have had numerous people reporting being given a £70 fine over the last three weeks and staff are getting very angry.

“The situation has become even more serious, however, with appeals being turned down and staff being threatened with fines totalling hundreds of pounds.”

A Sussex Partnership trust spokesman said they had also passed on their concerns to Worthing Borough Council.

A spokesman for the council said no appeal would be turned down if there was evidence that a legitimate visit was being carried out.

He added: “There has been no change to rules and all NHS staff spoken to are aware that the permits are only for use on domiciliary visits.

“Controlled Parking Zones are carefully managed so that all users have a fair chance of accessing parking, and the mis-use identified in recent weeks has meant residents have been denied parking where large numbers of healthcare permits have been used to park outside NHS premises.

“The permit holder is made aware of the rules every time they obtain or renew their permit.

“The only appeals refused to date are those who have confirmed parking while working in an NHS premises.

“Any with insufficient information will always be asked for more information before a decision is made.”