NHS staff have been told to get on their feet and walk following complaints about hospital parking.
People visiting patients at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy have also been urged to travel by bus or taxi to ease the situation.
Dozens of workers have been issued with parking tickets since the new £170 million wing at the hospital opened last week. Health chiefs have also been inundated with complaints from angry patients and visitors struggling to find a place to leave their cars.
Parking at the Vic has always been difficult, but the problem has escalated since services, along with hundreds of staff, were transferred this month from Forth Park and Queen Margaret hospitals to the new wing.
Despite there being 1,300 spaces, the surrounding streets have become congested and there have been reports of cars abandoned on double yellow lines and over people’s driveways.
David Stewart, chairman of NHS Fife’s operational division, made it clear that those issues were police matters but called on staff and the public to have some consideration.
”I know there are issues with parking,” he said. ”I always made it quite clear from the outset parking would be difficult. We have done our best to persuade people to use public transport and other forms of transport to get here.
”If people park where they shouldn’t, on double yellow lines or blocking people’s driveways, then that’s a matter for the police and nothing to do with NHS Fife.”
He added: ”It also needs consideration from our staff, who need to appreciate they will have to turn up earlier than before if they want a space at the hospital, otherwise they will have to park further away and get on their feet and walk.
”I park at the top of Whyteman’s Brae and walk, and it would do some of our staff a bit of good if they did similar. I make no bones about saying that.”
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Further car parking is to be made available following the demolition of a building to the east of the hospital, although Mr Stewart said it would not make a huge difference.
”It’s always going to be difficult,” he said. ”I have a personal plea for people who want to visit in the afternoon, which is our busiest time of the day.
”If they could come by bus, taxi or get dropped off here, it would certainly help the situation in the afternoon.”
He conceded, however, that better signposting was needed at the Vic to help outpatients find the parking set aside for them.
”We have had issues with people turning up to park at the front door of the new wing when really they should be at the outpatients’ car park,” he said. ”We maybe need to look at signage at the drop-off bay because it’s not entirely clear it’s for drop-off only and it’s doing people who merely want to drop people off at the front door a disservice.
”These are teething issues and I’m sure as time goes on we’ll manage to resolve some of them. It’s going to calm down.”
Fife Labour leader Alex Rowley said the situation was an ”absolute nightmare”, adding: ”Parking is a real problem and when you go into the wards it’s a real common theme among staff and visitors.
”Part of a person’s wellbeing in hospital is to get visitors, but it becomes very difficult when you’ve got the situation where people are desperately trying to park in side streets, there are cars on grass verges and it is clearly a real issue.
”Given the hospital is serving the whole of Fife, given that the bus services seem to be inadequate, and given the numbers of people visiting, there’s no choice but to come by car.”