Hospital parking fee hike a ‘kick in the guts’ following pay increase, says Wellington nurse

Staff parking at Wellington Regional Hospital will increase from Jan 1. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Nurses’ union members are “appalled” by a doubling of parking fees at Wellington and Hutt Hospitals, a month after accepting a pay offer from DHBs.

From January 1, 2022, the cost of staff daily parking will increase from between $4.50 to a “dynamic range” of between $4.50 and $7.50 per day, Capital and Coast DHB confirmed.

“A monthly” parking – in a location closer to the hospital – was rising from $121 to $220 per month and ‘C Monthly’ parking – further from the hospital – would increase from $72 to $140 per month.

NZNO delegate Serena Gray described it as “a kick in the guts”, especially after the union accepted a “minimal” pay offer from DHBs last month, following 15 months of negotiation.

“We’ve just had a recent pay increase and now having to pay double fees feels like not getting an increase at all,” she said.

“Now we have to pay to go to work, pretty much.

“I’m a single mum, every single dollar is important.”

NZNO accepted a pay offer from DHBs last month, following strike action earlier this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Gray said the fee hike had been framed by CCDHB as an equity-based policy meant to incentivise staff to find greener travel options.

While they supported greener policies, she said many public transport options – particularly at unsociable hours – could be costly and time consuming.

Living in Tawa and working in Wellington, Gray said it could take an hour and a half to get to work on public transport, which didn’t leave her much time to spend with her children.

It also posed a safety issue, forcing staff to find less desirable places to park, further from the hospital.

“As a predominantly female workforce who often work unsociable hours, we’re at risk of predatory behaviour and assaults which happen too often.

“Staff don’t feel safe walking long distances to cars and the same goes for taking public transport late at night.

“There’s also an ongoing issue with cars being broken into while we’re on nights. For us, safety is best guaranteed by being able to park at the hospital.”

Nurses are worried about their safety if forced to park further from the hospital. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Although CCDHB had said staff could be escorted to their cars by security orderlies, Gray said this would often not be possible.

“Security orderlies are severely understaffed, we barely have enough to transfers within the hospital, or security instances which are happening in ED all the time.”

CCDHB chief financial officer Mathew Parr said they were not aware of safety issues, and security orderlies were available to escort staff to their cars at night on request.

He said they had developed a “needs based” policy to assign staff parking, following a steady increase in parking demand over recent years – particularly at Wellington Hospital.

“CCDHB will invest $3.3 million over the next 10 years on improvements to make it easier for staff to cycle or walk to work,” Parr said.

“These will include new ‘end of journey’ facilities – such as bike storage, lockers, showers and changing rooms – a staff carpooling app, improvements to the Kenepuru Community Hospital shuttle, and personalised travel planning support.”

They were also continuing to consider how they could increase car park numbers at Wellington Regional Hospital, including investigating a multi-storey car park, with options available early next year.

Parr said staff parking rates had not changed in seven years, were heavily subsidised and sat below market value.

“Ongoing subsidisation is not a viable long-term solution and is no longer sustainable, meaning we need to increase rates incrementally over the next three years to align them more with market rates,” he said.

“Due to the high utilisation of car parking, the daily rate for staff will be $7.50 from January 1, however this may be adjusted down to reflect utilisation rates going forward.

“Further increases will take place over the following two years.”