Hospital parking stewards have expressed “grave concern” for patients’ health and safety after accusing their bosses of putting cash over logic.
A whistle-blower contacted The Courier this week to claim a night porter service at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital is to be removed by car park operators Indigo Parking.
The employee, who asked not to be named, says the decision has baffled staff.
It’s claimed employees fear removing the night porter service will compromise the safety of patients and staff leaving hospital grounds late at night.
The gritting of stairwells and grounds will also be impacted by the decision, it’s felt.
Such is the feeling of dismay amongst staff, it’s claimed employees are operating a “scoring chart to determine who goes”.
The disgruntled employee said: “On this shift we provide a health and safety service including monitoring CCTV patrols, escort service — mostly for ladies finishing in the wee hours whose cars are parked in remote areas of the grounds — gritting stairs and paths in winter and being a deterrent to people who would break into and damage cars and property.
“We believe this service should remain for the safety of all at Ninewells.
“The redundancy procedure going on at the moment is a farce as the contract manager has no answers to our queries and no one from head office has the decency to come and explain this to us.”
Whilst staff are unhappy about the way the situation has been handled and fear for their colleagues’ jobs, the health and safety of patients and staff is their primary concern.
The whistle-blower added: “This will affect one full-time and one part-time position but the revenue lost will far out way one man’s salary
“This only covers a small indication of the health and safety issues,there are others including clearing hazardous materials.”
West end councillor Fraser Macpherson reacted with “concern” to the claims and said he would be contacting NHS Tayside chief executive Lesley McLay imminently.
He added: “Clearly, ensuring staff — primarily females— get back to their cars safely late at night is a vital safety issue.
“The other question is if these people are monitoring CCTV and carrying out gritting, then who will be doing it if not this position is removed?
“Indigo Parking is a private firm, are they within their rights to start removing services?”
An Indigo spokesman said following a consultation the car park will be staffed between 6am and 10pm.
He added: “Outside these times, a 24-hour contact centre will monitor the car park’s CCTV and answer any customer questions via the pay-on-foot machines and intercom points.
“A security contractor will also be granted full access, and can be contacted by the Indigo team at any time should customers require on site assistance.”
An NHS Tayside spokesperson said they are committed to ensuring public safety.
She added: “NHS Tayside is responsible for site security at Ninewells and employs two security attendants who are based at the hospital and on duty every night from 10pm until 6am.
“The security attendants deal with site security issues and are on hand upon request to escort staff, patients or visitors to their car.
“NHS Tayside has the responsibility for gritting and salting pathways and car park stairways so any changes to Indigo staffing would not affect this service.”
