ANGRY nurses at Hereford's new hospital have accused Hereford Hospitals Trust of letting them down over car parking.

Some claim they do not know where to park, changes have been made without them knowing and that parking permits are going up from £40 to £70 from April 1 without any guarantee of a space.

Many nurses have telephoned the Hereford Times this week with their complaints and asking 'Does anyone care about the carers'?

Most concerned are staff on shift work, those starting early in the morning or leaving late at night.

One nurse said there were only 48 spaces for staff at the hospital, but an area had been railed off for named places for consultants and management.

Shift workers

Nurses on early and late shifts had been able to park near the nurses and medical staff residential quarters in the past but this now had a barrier across.

One nurse said that on Tuesday she left home an hour earlier than normal to try and find a space to park.

Later she walked to that area and found 40 empty spaces.

Staff claim the reduction in parking is part of the trust's policy to encourage staff not to bring cars to work.

But nurses say many live in rural area, have other commitments with their children, and there is little public transport to fit in with their shifts.

And while spaces are made available at the Garrick car park across town it was not acceptable for them to walk in the dark either late at night or early in the morning, on their own.

Jeremy Millar, chief executive of the trust said they did care, and parking arrangements and the pricing of permits had been agreed with staff representatives a long time ago.

He said parking at the hospital was at the lowest ebb at the moment. As soon as the site around the hospital was cleared there would be much more space available but this would take a little time.

A bus service was also being planned to the hospital, bus stop signs were going in at the moment.

"This is a very difficult time, but it will get better,'' he said.

Mr Millar said the trust had wanted to allocate much more space for car parking in the first place, but the former city planners had limited the area.

When all the clearing up had been completed it might be the right time for the Trust, Mercia Health Care and representatives of the council to get together and review the situation over parking. "We have the interest of patients and the public to think of too, and I am sure we would be pleased to see if we can provide more,'' he said.

Herefordshire Councillor Marcelle Lloyd Hayes is supporting the nurses over parking and said she would be writing to the trust about the situation.