Conquest staff parking fees to go up

From March 1, the cost for doctors and nurses to park at the hospital will rise from 50p a day to 1.

Hospital bosses said the move was needed to offset current cash flow problems.

They said the recent snow had led to cancelled operations and a subsequent loss of income.

Other cost-saving measures include a ban on overtime.

Florence Govan, a healthcare worker at the Conquest, said: "Our parking charges are doubling. It's totally out of order.

"I know it's not a colossal amount of money but you shouldn't have to pay to park at work."

Hastings and Rye MP Michael Foster said: "I am not unsympathetic to trust managers seeking a resolution to the problem that has arisen, indeed I applaud them for it.

"However, it cannot be right that some of the lowest paid members of staff, some earning only 13,000 or 14,000 per year, should suffer an effective cut of 150 a year in their salaries for increased parking charges.

"Neither do I agree that it is possible to increase the working hours and operate on a six day week without paying overtime, or should low paid staff be expected to work for free."

Mr Foster has written to hospital trust chairman Irene Dibben expressing his concerns.

He added: "If it's necessary to overspend this year then so be it. No one can help the inclement weather but it's not an excuse for targeting hard-working NHS workers."

A hospital spokesman said: "The trust has faced a number of significant challenges since the start of the year with extreme weather conditions, the like of which we have not seen for over 30 years, followed swiftly by a serious outbreak of norovirus in the local community.

"These challenges have had a serious effect on our operational performance which in turn has had an impact on our financial plans for the remainder of 2009/10."

He said the trust received money from Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust (PCT) every time the hospital carried out an operation.

Operations were also cancelled during the cold spell as some staff could not get to work.

The spokesman said: "We will continue to face challenges in the future as the NHS deals with the current economic difficulties.

"We have introduced a number of measures to overcome these operational and financial difficulties to enable us to focus on recovering as best as we can our performance against key national targets like 18-week waiting times and getting as close as we can to our planned financial target.

"The trust chairman will be meeting Mr Foster to discuss his concerns."