HEARTLESS ‘COVIDIOTS’!
PARKING COMPANY FINES HOSPITAL NURSE – AS SHE WORKS A SHIFT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
AN NHS employee has been issued with a parking fine while working at Wales’ largest hospital during the coronavirus pandemic.
Katy Wells, who normally works as a dental nurse at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff, was redeployed as a make-shift auxiliary nurse a fortnight ago.
Instead of taking care of people’s teeth, the 31-year-old has been washing patients, making beds and dealing with “general healthcare duties” so that other NHS staff can be sent to work on the frontline with those who have tested positive for Covid-19.
But when Katy returned to her car after a shift on Wednesday, March 18, she found a ticket on the windscreen instructing her to pay a fine.
She said that she was given the parking charge notice (PCN) because one of the wheels of her grey Ford Fiesta was “touching a white line” in her designated bay.
She said she wrote to Parking Eye to point out that her car was in a staff parking zone, but her appeal to overturn the fine was refused.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I just felt upset and shocked as I hadn’t done anything wrong,” said Katy.
“I was parked completely within my bay and in the correct staff zone. I was not obstructing any other bay or preventing anyone from using a parking space.
“My car had just one back wheel on the white line, and not over the white line.”
Katy, who drives to the hospital every day from her home in Bridgend, said she arrived at work an hour early, at 7.30am that day, so she could find a parking space.
She said she decided to park at a slight angle because the car next to her was parked so far over in the neighbouring bay.
“I was parked as far over as possible to prevent the driver of the vehicle next to me from opening the door onto my one-year-old car and damaging the door, which so frequently happens due to the inadequate parking spaces and turning zones,” she said.
The parking charge notice Katy received instructed her to pay a £70 fine, which will be reduced to £40 if she pays it quickly.
“It’s just really insensitive. Everyone here is at breakingpoint and feeling drained, so this is the last thing people need.”
Katy’s appeal to Parking Eye was rejected and she is now taking it to the independent appeals service, Popla.
“I have enjoyed being redeployed,” she added.
“But I’m now very cautious about how I park my car.”
Parking Eye, which operates the free parking at the UHW site, has been asked to comment.