THE two week grace period for implementing the new parking procedures at the South West Acute Hospital carpark came to an end on Monday.
Site users who do not comply with the new car parking management procedures will be issued with a parking charge notice and may incur a penalty.
The Western Health Trust says it implemented the new car parking arrangements to ensure that traffic is well managed and parking spaces are used effectively. They say protecting ambulance routes, disabled parking bays and general site access is a main priority for all those managing the car park.
However, throughout the two weeks grace period, staff members at SWAH have expressed their anger and disappointment at the lack of free spaces available within the car park.
Many staff have said if they do not arrive at work first thing in the morning have been forced to park in the paid for car park, making their work day very expensive – a twelve hour shift, for example, could mean a parking charge of £8.40.
The site at SWAH offers staff and patients 832 free car parking spaces, but when those are filled, carpark users are forced to park in the 146 paid for spaces.
One disgruntled employee travels one hour to work and faces having to park in the paid for spaces.
“I am and have been experiencing problems every morning with car parking. I find this extremely stressful and the last few mornings have been horrendous. Within the last couple of weeks, I have arrived at 9.10am to find the multi-storey carpark full for staff spaces and carpark C completely full. The charges in the paid for carpark are £5.60 per day, approximately £113.00 per month which would make it not worthwhile for me to work here.”
Addressing the issue, a spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust said
“The Western Trust provides a Total of 978 spaces on SWAH site, 832 free and 146 paid spaces. No other Trust offers site users this level of free access, and we remain the cheapest Trust in terms of car parking hourly rate charged. We accept that ensuring the effective usage of the parking on the site will take time, and we will continue to provide some internal solutions for staff and politely ask all site users to please pre-plan their journey allowing appropriate time to reach their final destination.”
Hospital workers who contacted the Herald, but said they wished not to be named, pointed out that carparking at the hospital is charged at a higher hourly rate than parking in Enniskillen town centre.
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere