Staff may be forced onto side streets during work to increase parking at Sandwell Hospital
Doctors and nurses could be forced to park on side streets as work to create a new multi-storey at Sandwell Hospital has resulted in a lack of parking spaces.
Parking has been a nightmare for staff at Sandwell Hospital over recent years and it is hoped the new multi-storey car park will put an end to the problems.
But, ironically, spaces have had to be removed to allow the building work, due to start in the coming weeks, to take place. Bosses previously said work would start in July but the project has been delayed.
Some staff have been parking at the nearby New Square shopping centre but there are still not enough spaces for everyone.
David Carruthers, acting chief executive of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the parking situation was under review. Another car park is being built at Birmingham City Hospital, also run by the trust.
Frustration
The trust decided to build the car parks in response to long-running parking issues at its hospitals, which had resulted in staff parking on side streets to the frustration of residents. When completed, parking capacity will be increased by around 1,000.
Highlighting the problems in his latest board report, Mr Carruthers said: "Commencement of building of our new multi-story car parks as a long-term solution for on site parking for visitors, patients and staff is to start shortly.
"A reduction in car park space has occurred as a consequence. Though many colleagues from Sandwell site have been parking at New Square and many are still working from home, this has not been enough to create sufficient capacity for on-site parking for staff.
"This is undergoing rapid review to consider options, needed more at Sandwell than City. Government policy to encourage working from home may not have additional impact on the situation at SWBHT due to our own approach to WFH already in place."
Both hospitals will be scaled down when the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital opens in Smethwick in 2022. A new medical centre is being built at the Sandwell Hospital site in West Bromwich, further increasing the need for parking spaces.
