Brighton hospital workers to pay for park and ride service

Workers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road, Brighton, usually park their cars at Brighton racecourse in Freshfield Road, and use a shuttlebus service for the last leg of the journey to the hospital.

From Sunday, May 1, the park and ride scheme from the racecourse will no longer be free of charge, as staff now require a paid permit to use the service.

Staff were asked to apply for the new permits in December 2021, but The Argus has been told by workers that many have had their applications refused, with no explanation provided.

Some workers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital are considering leaving their jobs

One worker, who asked not to be named, said a handful of her colleagues are quitting work at the hospital as a result, and she is considering doing the same, as travelling by bus adds two hours on to her day.

“We all applied, and the huge majority of the people that I know have been refused,” she said.

“It’s a job that I love doing, but this is making me want to do it less and less and less. I’ve got friends in the intensive care unit that are reconsidering their career because they can’t get into work.

“When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you think is ‘where am I going to park my car?’”

She has worked at the Royal Sussex for many years, and said this is the first time she will have had to pay for parking.

She and her colleagues said that they are happy to pay the permit fee.

A park and ride service operates from Brighton racecourse

Responding to the uproar caused by the permits, a spokesman for Royal Sussex County Hospital said: “Demand for staff permits significantly outstrips supply, so our permit scheme is designed to identify colleagues with the greatest need to park near the hospital.

“It assesses work hours; shift times; job requirements; need to travel by car for work; where staff live; and availability of spaces.

“Thousands of new staff permits are currently being issued and, as with any new system, some issues are being reported and we are addressing these, validating the information we have received from staff, and keeping colleagues informed.”

The hospital said it had implemented a charge at Brighton racecourse park and ride as it had expanded the number of parking spaces available across its remit "from 170 to 750", and "required significant further investment to pay for more private parking, minibuses, vehicle maintenance, fuel costs and driver salaries".

The UK government funded free parking for all hospitals in England during the peak of the pandemic, though the funding ceased on Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Parking permit requests outweigh the availability of spaces

The Royal Sussex will reinstate the permit charges in May.

“If staff meet the criteria for a permit, the cost depends on how much they earn,” said the spokesman.

“In Brighton, staff earning up to £25,000 are charged £10 a month to use our park and ride services at Brighton Racecourse, Whitehawk and the city centre. Staff earning above £25,000 are charged between £25 and £60 a month for a permit.

“The money raised pays for the rent of private parking and transport costs to get staff to and from work.”