Sheffield Teaching Hospitals confirm staff parking rules after social media outcry

Parking for staff at NHS hospitals has been a key issue since the coronavirus crisis began, with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals agreeing to waive the charges this week.

However, a tweet sent yesterday claiming staff at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital were still being forced to pay has since been shared more than 5,000 times.

Twitter user Lee England said: “Please can you share - Saba car parking at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield are still charging NHS staff £8.50 per day.

“My wife is now paying £238 per month to park and save lives. All in this together my a**.”

The tweet was met with fury on the social media site with users describing the charges as ‘shocking’ and ‘disgraceful’.

However, managers at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have now responded by saying the charges have indeed now stopped and that those who have paid in error can claim the money back.

Andrew Jones, director of facilities, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Since last weekend we lifted the barriers in the multi-storey car park at the Hallamshire Hospital permanently so staff can both enter and leave without paying.

“We are also in the process of covering the pay and display machines so that it is even more obvious that no payment is required. If any member of staff has paid over the last few days we will arrange reimbursement. We also will not be deducting any monies from staff who pay monthly for parking permits from today.

“We are very grateful to all our staff for their incredible work and dedication during these unprecedented times and we are continuing to explore every option we can to enable staff to park given the constraints we have in terms of parking spaces on all our sites and the fact we still need to have parking for some patients.

“We have had fantastic support from partners in the city including Sheffield University, the council and lots of private companies who have offered their spare parking to us for staff members. We are very grateful for their help.”