Russells Hall Hospital staff to be charged for parking

Staff will be charged up to £15 per month to use a new £6million car park at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital.

Fees are being introduced at the multi-storey - due to be completed later this month - in a bid to claw back some of the building and running costs to invest in patient care. The charges can be revealed exclusively by the Express & Star today.

Hospital bosses are proposing monthly fees of £15 for full-time staff, £7.50 for people working less than 18.75 hours a week and £5 for bank staff and those on salaries of £16,753 or less.

Workers at the Guest Hospital in Dudley and the Corbett in Stourbridge will also have to pay to park.

Chief executive Paula Clark said hospital volunteers may be exempt from the charges, although this was still being finalised.

Ms Clark said: "The trust's board of directors has reluctantly taken the decision to introduce a charge for staff to access car parks at all of its sites. The vast majority of trusts nationally and locally already impose charges and we have tried to delay this outcome for as long as possible.

"However, in the current economic climate where the Trust is required to make budget savings of approximately £9.8 million, we now need to take these steps as a contribution to the £650,000 per annum operating costs of our staff car parks.

"Charging for access to car parks will also allow us to reclaim VAT on the cost of the new multi-tiered car park at the rear of Russells Hall Hospital."