Following on from the Scottish Exec desion to scarp parking comes thisS

ee below Free car parking is a big incentive to drive to work so much for active travel and tackling cliamte change
Mary

----Original Message-----
From: Nursing Times [mailto:nursingtimes@mail.emap.com]
Sent: 01 September 2008 17:29
Subject: Free Parking - clampdown on unfair charges

Nursing Times is launching a campaign on 16th September calling on the government and NHS organisations to abolish car parking charges for nurses in England at their place of work.

To kick-off the Free Parking campaign we want to gain the views of the profession on the issue.

Please can you spare a few minutes to complete our short survey.

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Many thanks,

Nursing Times

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I missed chance to complete their on-line survey but learnt Nursing Times have delayed launch of their campaign for free hospital parking until 30September.

Meanwhile Nursing Standard (circulation 374,455) published my (virtually unscathed) response to their misguided call for free parking under the heading Forget about Free Parking, It is time to Get on your Bike............

Dear Editor

I am dismayed by the Trade Unions misguided support for the abolition of hospital car parking charges in English hospitals following similar decisions by the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament.

Such a policy would not be in the best interests of staff, patients and the NHS. Already staff and patients find it difficult to park at many hospitals. A free-for-all policy in England will exacerbate this situation and cause chaos at more sites as witnessed in Scotland and Wales (Hospitals to stop abuse of free parking - Western Mail 8 September).

Free car parking will completely scupper efforts to reduce the NHS carbon footprint from transport and will undermine efforts to get staff physically active. It runs counter to RCN backing for the Take Action on Active Travel campaign http://www.adph.org.uk/press_releas...0April%2008.pdf

There is no such thing as a free car park, someone has to pay for running them. If this principle is maintained all patients should have their costs covered for all healthcare appointments regardless of how they travel - by bus, taxi, tube, tram or rail. Instead of freeing car parks, Trusts should promote the Health Travel Costs Scheme helping those on low incomes recoup their fares.

If NHS car parking charges are abolished this will inevitably lead to budgets being diverted from healthcare to cover the costs of operating them. Car parking costs are travel costs not healthcare costs.

I cycle home from night duty and then walk with my 4 year old children to school. It is good for me, good for them and sets an example to my neighbours and the wider public. I have prompted my employer Trafford PCT to introduce measures to make it easier for staff to make active healthy travel choices. These include cycle parking, web-based public transport information and a tax-free bike purchase scheme. I urge other nurses - and their unions - to do likewise.

Yours sincerely......

Vincent Walsh

Next week I will turn my guns on the Nursing Times

I cycle therefore I am

As much as I would love to cycle to work, god knows my waistline would thank me for it, I live in Birmingham and I work in Nuneaton - a journey of about 20 miles, 25 minutes in the car, down the M6.

I'm afraid I'm not Tour De France cycle fit so the car is the only option, public transport just isn't good enough at the times I need to travel. I have doubled up my shifts so I travel to work 3 days instead of 5 and then have to pay for the privilege to park,

Police and Firefighters don't have to do this, why should healthcare workers? Hitting people in their pocket does not an incentive make.

For the second successive week Nursing Times published a (slightly edited) letter of mine opposing their misguided call for the abolition of hospital car parking charges.

"Was free parking a founding principle of the NHS (NT Features, 30 September, p20)? I do not expect my employer to pay my bus fare, maintain my bike or provide a slab of tarmac for parking. A car parking space is a perk not a right. Charges should be retained but banded according to ability to pay, with surplus parking revenue invested in greener more sustainable modes of travel like car sharing, new bus routes and bike sheds.

Some NHS Trusts like Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and Bristol PCT have implemented sophisticated travel plans that encourage staff to adopt more active healthy means of getting to work. The abolition of car parking charges would undermine these efforts. It also runs contrary to RCN backing for the Take Action on Active Travel manifesto and the UNISON policy for Greening the Workplace.

The NT and health unions should demand similar schemes be introduced across the UK, starting with Greater Manchester where such a proposal has the unanimous support of the local Directors of Public Health. They recognise the abolition of hospital car parking charges will only increase congestion, damage public health and lengthen the carbon footprint of the NHS."

I am very disappointed that this campaign is being run by the Nursing Times. If nurses need to use their cars for work, the trusts should cover their parking fees. If nurses commute to work because of security concerns, they should be given a sympathetic hearing. Just removing fees for all nurses will only encourage more car journeys. It would help if the money collected in parking fees was earmarked for transport and security improvements such as better lighting, shuttle buses, shower facilities etc,

It is sad that the Staff Council only raised the rate for cyclists by 3.8 p while they raised the rates for motorist by 5 p. Now that petrol has gone down again, will the car rates be lowered?

I would rather see the Nursing Times campaign for improved cycling facilities than the removal of parking fees.