​Every day, dedicated NHS colleagues arrive at Walsall Manor and New Cross hospital ready to care for our community. Creating a supportive, low-stress work environment is vital to helping staff focus on delivering the best possible patient care.
​Many of us hold valid parking permits with fees deducted directly from our monthly salaries, and our vehicle registration numbers are registered with our permit accounts. Currently, staff parking relies on displaying physical paper permits. Unfortunately, permits can easily slip down dashboards or go unnoticed, and in some instances, staff have received fines even while their permit was clearly on display.
​Adding to this stress, several colleagues who received unfair penalties have had their appeals rejected—even after providing proof of holding a valid permit and paying monthly fees. Having to pay fines despite holding a valid permit creates genuine distress, administrative frustration, and financial strain for our hardworking team. For some who continue to appeal unjust fines with the parking organisation, bailiff action has been threatened. 
​Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is already widely used across the NHS and is currently operational in the visitors' car park here at Walsall Manor Hospital. Extending this system to staff parking—by matching ANPR scans with the vehicle registration numbers already linked to our permit accounts—would offer a fair, modern, and reliable solution.

​We kindly ask that the following are considered:

​Engage in Collaborative Discussion: Work constructively with Excel Parking Services, as the car park owner and operator, to explore practical technical solutions and updates to current enforcement practices.
​Extend ANPR Recognition to Staff Parking: Automatically recognise registered staff vehicles using the registration data already on file, removing the sole reliance on physical paper permits. This will prevent fines caused by permit displacement or manual oversight, ensuring legitimate permit holders are never penalised.

​By modernizing our staff parking system through constructive collaboration, we can boost morale, ensure fairness, and ensure our workplace environment is positive from the moment we arrive, in turn upholding the NHS People Promise.

In an addition to the initial petition contents, I have been contacted by staff members at the Royal Wolverhampton Trust and been asked to include New Cross Hospital in this petition, as they are also facing the above issues. Our permit covers both sites, and as we are all experiencing the same issues and stresses, it is vital that we are heard as one voice. I have therefore updated the petition to reflect the need for change at both WMH and RWT.

​Please join us in supporting this positive, constructive change for our Walsall Manor Hospital and New Cross Hospital colleagues.