Doctors and nurses at NHS hospital face having to sell their homes after court orders them to pay £12.8m in fines for parking at work
A court ruled doctors and nurses must pay £128 for every ticket they have received plus £26,000 in court fees
DOCTORS and nurses at an NHS hospital face financial ruin after a court ordered them to pay £12.8million in fines for parking at work.
One nurse at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff owes £150,000 in outstanding tickets.
Staff have been locked in a bitter war with the firm that runs the car park, racking up 100,000 tickets between them.
Campaigner Sue Prior said: “It is disgusting. This ruling is devastating for doctors and nurses across the country.”
Staff at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff now face having to sell their homes after losing a legal fight over unpaid parking fines at the hospital.
The court ruled doctors and nurses must now pay £128 for every ticket they have received, plus £26,000 in court fees.
In a battle with Indigo, the company running the car park, they have accrued 100,000 unpaid tickets between them — meaning they owe £12.8million.
The car park at UHW has 1,800 spaces and 6,000 staff, many of whom have to park in spaces reserved for visitors.
Staff, some on just £15,100 a year, decided they would not pay any fines in protest at the lack of spaces.
Some have collected hundreds of tickets — one nurse reckons she has £150,000 of fines outstanding.
Indigo launched a test case against 75 staff and on Friday District Judge Clare Coates at Cardiff county court sided with the company.
A children’s nurse, who owes £2,000, said: “This would never have come up if they provided proper parking for staff.
“The wardens are totally ruthless. Now people are talking about having to sell their homes to pay their fines. It’s the last thing NHS staff need, particularly with the cap on our pay.”
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French firm Indigo had a turnover of £24million last year.
Sue Prior, of Taff Ely Parking Action, has led the fight on behalf of the medics.
She said: “It is disgusting that the doctors and nurses of this country can be treated like this.
“This is a lot of money, some people may have to sell their homes. We don’t know if we want to risk appealing it yet."
Hospital staff have now set up an online fund-raising page to help them pay for an appeal.
UK hospital bosses raked in a record £120million in parking charges last year.
A spokesman for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “All staff and visitors are encouraged to comply with the parking regulations.”
An Indigo spokesman said: “The ruling has justified our decision to take this action.”
'I'M QUITTING NHS'
A FACEBOOK group set up by staff members to discuss the parking issue has been flooded with comments from medics who believe it is going to ruin them.
One nurse said: “I have woken up feeling sick, deflated, totally crap and worried to death about how I’m going to pay these guys.”
Another nurse, set to return after maternity leave, wrote: “I feel sick and I’m in tears at the thought of going back.”
And an experienced nurse said: “We are probably going to have to sell our family home. I have decided to leave the NHS. I cannot continue working for someone who doesn’t support their employees.
“What a horrible and dark world we live in.”