A BARROW councillor who works as a nurse has described the Government's decision to reintroduce parking fees for NHS hospital staff as 'insulting'.

Labour's Iain Mooney said the move, which came into effect on Friday, was particularly problematic 'in light of rising costs and their [the Government's] refusal to offer a pay rise'.

The free parking was an initiative introduced to benefit NHS staff during the pandemic but, on Tuesday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced it would be ending.

The news for health workers in south Cumbria is a little brighter, however, with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), which runs Furness General and Westmorland General, saying it would reintroduce staff parking fees from July rather than immediately.

Cllr Mooney, who is the borough council's lead member for health and wellbeing, also bemoaned a 'huge lack of parking spaces' that had created a 'lottery' for staff. 

"Inflation is at record levels, with rises in the cost of food, energy and tax, and now NHS staff are expected to pay to come to work when many are struggling to put food on the table and pay basic living costs," he said.

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, was also critical of the Government, calling the decision over parking a 'despicable example' of how it treated NHS workers.

“With energy bills and food prices rocketing, the timing of this really couldn’t be worse," the Liberal Democrat MP said.

“My only hope is that a government that is famous for U-turning is forced to change to their mind on this appallingly ill-judged decision.”

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A UHMBT spokesman said the continuation of free parking until July was in line with the policies of other trusts across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System. 

The spokesman said: "Consultation will take place in the coming weeks on plans to develop a single parking fee structure to be adopted by the whole integrated care system.

"We will continue to keep our staff updated on new tariffs for staff parking and the payment process."