NURSING staff have pleaded for a decision to scrap around 700 of their parking spaces to be overturned.

Medics who are dependent on the multistorey at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) have warned plans to reduce staff parking to just one floor will cause “chaos”.

The car parking facility on Castle Street currently houses hundreds of spaces across offering free parking for staff, patients and visitors alike.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was given funding to complete the £26.3 million buy over of the former private finance initiative (PFI) in 2021 from the Scottish Government.

However, staff at the hospital have warned the changes will create a “disaster” for nurses.

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Medics, who spoke to the Glasgow Times anonymously, said: “Staff will run late and patients will find it extremely difficult to attend their appointments because of large queues in and around the Royal.

“It will be totally impossible as we have residential permit parking in Royston, Glasgow City Council parking meters on Wishart Street at a cost of £10 for three hours and zero parking in and around the GRI campus.

“NHSGGC management has ignored staff concerns and we’ve pointed out that the whole area will be in a gridlock situation because of the volume of vehicles unable to find spaces anywhere.”

The changes, which are due to come into force on June 1, will see a shift to three levels dedicated to patient and visitor parking.

Level five will be allocated for permit parking, which nurses describe as a “golden ticket” they struggle to meet the criteria for, which, staff say, will leave just one level dedicated to staff.

Public transport limitations mean it is almost impossible to reach a shift prior to 6am or make it home after a 9pm finish.

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Staff said: “The last time they closed two levels to staff it caused a tailback on the M8 but this time they want to close four levels which will have a higher impact on traffic and services at the Royal and the surrounding area.”

They added: “The board has already seen a massive reduction in staffing because of Covid. This will only add extra pressure to workers' anxiety.

“We only want to come and do our job to the best ability we can but, it would seem the board has a different approach and view about its loyal staff.”

A spokesperson for NHSGGC insisted more than 45% of car parking allocation will be given to staff.

They said: “We recognise that some of our staff may have concerns around parking within, or near to, the GRI but we hope that the reintroduction of controlled car parking across a number of our sites will address some of the peak, Monday to Friday challenges that parking at busy hospital sites create, and in doing so strike a balance between the needs of staff, patients and visitors.

“As the GRI is surrounded by arterial roads serving Glasgow city centre, space on the campus is limited to 1373 available car parking spaces. Unfortunately, there is no opportunity to increase this provision, which means that car parking space allocation has to be properly managed to ensure that the hospital is accessible and to minimise potential hazards for both pedestrians and other vehicles.”