In the UK, nurses and health workers protested over a proposed increase in car parking charges to £40 a month for staff and patients’ relatives. Over five hundred nurses and staff have signed a petition opposing the imposition of the increased parking charges.
According to The Guardian, those against the plan claim that staff will be the hardest hit, following a two-year wage freeze and an increase in the cost of nurse registration fees, with an employee working five days a week facing a bill of up to £450 a year.
A spokesperson for the Hospital and Health Trust said that the cost of parking and maintaining the facilities has previously been absorbed by trust budgets, but is currently being reconsidered based on the needs of car park users with the needs of the patients and service users. A decision is yet to be made in the case, which is expected to take into account the views of all parties involved.