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ARI staff claim they are being unfairly targeted by staff amid ‘parking nightmare’

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

Angry staff at the north-east’s biggest hospital claim they are being unfairly targeted and “constantly harassed” by health chiefs amid a “parking nightmare” at the site.

In a letter to the Press and Journal, the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary workers also said the culture within NHS Grampian means they are not able to be open about their concerns.

In May, the health board announced a major review of parking at the Foresterhill Health Campus, which led to 7,000 staff members being notified their permits would be reassessed.

At the time, union bosses raised concerns about the added anxiety the process could cause medics who already work in a high-pressure environment.

In their letter, staff claimed they are under-valued and not effectively represented and that “unpopular, unfair” decisions are pushed through against their wishes.

They added: “Staff need to be able to park just as much as anyone else.

“They have busy lives like everyone else. NHS Grampian has a staffing crisis, so fewer staff are doing longer hours.

“No one seems to care what the impact of targeting staff in this way again will do.”

There are about 14,000 visits to ARI each day – and just 2,500 parking spaces.

One surgeon said he was lucky in that he lived close to the site, but was concerned as he plans to move out of the city at the end of the year.

He said: “It’s a bit of a mess, we don’t know what’s going to happen and there’s no end point in sight.

“I’m a surgeon so I can be on-call, we also do clinics in Inverness, so we need to drive.”

Last night, NHS Grampian said it was “disappointing” that the staff who had raised concerns had not done so internally.

A spokeswoman for the health board said: “We are now about to review the staff parking criteria. There are not enough spaces to accommodate everyone who wishes to bring a vehicle to this site.

“The review of car parking will look at a wide range of issues, including the criteria for staff permits.

“Staff-side organisations are involved in the review and we will be communicating each step of the process directly to staff on the site.”

Earlier this year, Sir Ian Wood and his wife, Lady Helen, pledged £10million to the health board for a new patients and visitors car park at the site.