There is said to be “absolute uproar” among staff at the Royal United Hospital in Bath about the threat of fines from a new parking firm.
Parking outside of a marked bay in one of the staff car parks
An employee, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted the Bath Echo to highlight that fines will be issued from this week by Saba, which recently took over the parking contract at the RUH’s Combe Park site.
Fines, or notices of parking charges will be £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days.
The employee told us: “After recently having to reapply for our parking permits due to the criteria being tightened, we were assured parking for staff would become a lot easier as there would be less permits issued; however, this has not been the case and parking is still massively oversubscribed.
“All official parking spaces in the staff car parks are taken up by 7.40am each morning, meaning that anyone who starts work later than this has to park on the grass verges or at the end of the rows of cars.
“Parking there doesn’t cause an obstruction; however, it isn’t an official parking space but staff have no other choice.
“The RUH has just sent out an email to staff stating that employees who aren’t parked in an official parking space will be fined an eyewatering £40 by Saba on each occasion, rising to £80 if not paid within 14 days.
“The fine will also apply if parking that costs between £1 and £1.50 per day isn’t paid for on Saba’s app within 90 minutes; however, the app often doesn’t work and takes several attempts to get it to recognise your details.
“Staff who can’t get to the hospital by 7.40am can look forward to fines of £200 per week!”
The employee added: “The RUH aren’t taking any responsibility for what’s happening to their employees, instead telling us we will have to take it up with Saba ourselves.
“The RUH chose Saba as the parking provider and must have known about these charges but still chose to go ahead with the contract.”
They added: “The motto of the RUH regarding its employees is ‘You matter’ but that obviously isn’t true as they are allowing Saba to do this to their hard-working employees, many of whom are already struggling financially.
“Many people have family commitments that mean they aren’t able to get to work by 7.40am, even though their shift doesn’t start until 9am, to secure an official parking space.
“There’s absolute uproar among staff about these fines being introduced and the staff are extremely stressed and worried.”
The Bath Echo has seen the email that staff were sent by the RUH last Wednesday, 24th July, notifying them that from Thursday 1st August, Saba will start to issue notices of parking charges (parking fines) in the staff car parks.
It follows the introduction of the hospital’s new parking system earlier this year, and a “settling-in period” to allow everyone to get used to the changes.
The email said that any queries or disputes will be handled by Saba and the independent appeals service POPLA, not the RUH.
One of the car park sites leased by the RUH is currently for sale
It explained that notices of parking charges will apply for parking in an “unacceptable way” and for not paying. These will be placed on windscreens in a bright yellow envelope which should not be ignored.
“Unacceptable” parking includes on yellow lines or yellow cross-hatched areas, by ‘no stopping’ signs, blocking access routes (car, pedestrian or cycle), obstructing access barriers, blocking other drivers in, parking on the grass or on verges, and parking in areas people are not entitled to park in, such as Blue Badge spaces and drop-off areas.
The email adds that there will be a 90-minute grace period to allow people enough time to park and pay.
The Bath Echo asked the RUH to respond to the concerns and a spokesperson told us: “The pressures in the car park have significantly eased since our new parking system was introduced earlier this year, with better availability of spaces for staff arriving for shifts at any time.
“We are introducing notices of parking charges in our staff car parks in line with the terms and conditions that applied for all staff when they requested a permit and to respond to staff complaints about a small number of people continuing to park in an obstructive way.
“We genuinely hope no one gets fined and are doing all we can to encourage staff to park in line with the rules, including making sure our yellow lines are clearly visible.
“We also support alternative ways to travel to work, including promoting public transport discounts, our cycle to work scheme, and free trial periods for e-bikes.”
The RUH also clarified that notices of parking charges will apply for unacceptable parking in specific obstructive or damage-causing circumstances, not simply for parking outside a marked bay.
However, the signs clearly state that “Vehicles must be fully parked within a marked bay”.
Money from any notices of parking charges will go to the RUH, minus a small admin fee for Saba.
There are several staff car parks for RUH staff, including one that is currently up for sale.
The hospital leases the site, which is front of the St John’s Foundation Almshouse accommodation at Combe Park.
The sale is being marketed by property agents JLL as a “freehold development/investment opportunity”.
