By Free parking for NHS staff to end this week
Free parking for NHS hospital staff in England is set to end on Friday, it has been confirmed.
The scheme was introduced in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 93% of NHS trusts in England have implemented the free parking scheme “for those in greatest need.”
But free parking is now set to be scrapped with unions criticising the move as punishing struggling staff.
Rachel Harrison, national officer for the GMB union, described the move towards charging staff as “a sick joke”, after they “risked their lives during the pandemic”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady added that scrapping free parking is a “lousy way to repay” staff who had “put their lives on the line to get us through this pandemic”.
“The government should be giving health staff a proper pay rise – not adding to their bills,” she said.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care the policy was temporary and had been introduced “for the duration of the pandemic”.
It added that running the scheme had cost around £130m.
What do you think? Should the scheme be allowed to continue or is it time to return to normality?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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