A parking crisis at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has left frazzled workers arriving hours before their shifts are due to start.
During the pandemic, medical staff across all departments were given temporary permission to park in the top three floors of the 13-storey Lady Helen car park just opposite the main entrance.
The £10 million facility, funded by oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood and named after his wife, was opened five years ago to counter persistent parking problems at the site.
But under planning rules, the towering addition to the Foresterhill Health Campus had been allocated for use by patients and visitors only.
Workers told us that, even with the use of the extra space, they can still struggle to get parked there.
Now there are fears the privileges will be revoked by August – which could leave staff fighting for spaces and heaping stress onto their working day.
And it comes at a time when new buildings are under construction at the site, raising fears the problem will only get worse in the years ahead.
Parking chaos causing problems on streets around ARI
Martin McKay, a steward at Unison’s Grampian health branch, said limited parking space on the site had caused significant problems for staff for many years.
The veteran mental health nurse explained that the issue has also created wider problems in the surrounding area – as workers park on nearby streets as a last resort.
Mr McKay said: “The council and police were concerned about traffic flow because some days people were parking right out onto Westburn Road.
“There’s also major building works on the site at ARI – which is going to cause further changes to the amount of parking available to staff.”
Mr McKay feels that getting to use the multi-storey facility was “one of the only real benefits that staff got” as they faced the pandemic head-on.
‘Ability and benefit of parking just isn’t there’
Permits are available to a limited number of staff but even then spaces aren’t guaranteed.
“If you work in clinics, departments or offices and start work at 9am, most of the parking is gone by 7.30am by staff who come in and work an early shift,” Mr McKay explained.
“The ability and benefit of parking just isn’t there.”
Staff parking on the streets around the health campus has caused “disharmony” in the community and complaints have been lodged with Aberdeen City Council.
However, these complaints have led to staff getting stressed out because of the reaction to them taking up parking spaces.
Mr McKay added: “It’s just not the best situation… For a couple of years we’ve had a bit of breathing space around this and that’s all going to go back to how it used to be.
“From the concerns that we are getting from staff who are aware of it, they’re really unhappy and it’s adding extra stress to their work day.
“They have to leave early to try and fight for a parking space, sit and maybe come in an hour, two hours before they would normally come in.”
Concerns about safety of hospital staff
The lack of parking on the hospital site has raised safety worries too.
Working in the darker winter nights means workers who park on the streets have to walk quite a distance to get to their cars.
Mr McKay said: “The majority of our workforce is female, walking alone to their car somewhere far away from the site unlit, less secure is a concern.”
He noted that alternative travel isn’t a viable solution for a lot of staff either.
While a new X14 service from the Kingswells park and ride has recently been introduced by Stagecoach, a lot of bus routes that passed the ARI site have been halted.
The 8/8A bus service from Dubford area was axed by First Bus at the end of last year.
What steps will be taken to address the problem?
A working group has been set up in a bid to come up with solutions to solve the problem.
Mr McKay said Aberdeen health workers will ask the NHS to let them keep parking in the Lady Helen car park.
He went on to claim that the multi-storey isn’t even full on most days, even when staff use it.
Unison members are urging NHS Grampian, First Bus and Aberdeen City Council to work together to find a solution to the parking woes “as soon as possible”.
ARI parking problems raised at council meeting
Labour councillor Jennifer Bonsell raised the parking issues and reduced bus services at a recent meeting of full council.
She noted that over the last six months there had been fewer buses running early in the morning and late in the evening.
The Midstocket and Rosemount member asked for council officers to investigate the issue.
“There needs to be some assessment of the situation, investigation and reporting back before we could really see what the best solution would be,” she said.
“Action sooner rather than later would be very useful.”
Have you had trouble getting parked at ARI? Let us know in our comments section below
What does NHS Grampian have to say about the ARI parking problems?
But an NHS Grampian spokeswoman said the parking arrangement at the multi-storey car park was unchanged.
She explained: “Staff are permitted to park on level six and above, ensuring the lower floors are kept free for patients and visitors, especially those with mobility issues.”
However, she said the situation is under regular review and stressed that there has been “no recent, significant loss of parking at Foresterhill”.
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