The HSU has welcomed the State Government’s announcement that its proposed new Tweed Valley Hospital will offer a universal free parking scheme.
The outcome is win for HSU members, who ran a long campaign highlighting the huge costs of parking fees on both hospital staff, and the wider North Coast community.
The fee-free approach on hospital parking is expected to save healthcare workers around $1000 a year, and will also help patients and their families make visits to the new hospital.
Gerard Hayes, Secretary of the Health Services Unions, has applauded the bold move away from a user-pays model as a sensible policy decision for the rural area.
“This is a wonderful outcome on so many levels. Free parking at Tweed Hospital will improve the lives of hard-working cleaners, ward assistants, and allied health workers who worried about losing hundreds of dollars each year in order to simply park at their work” he said.
Mr Hayes says free hospital parking will also benefit patients and families who will seek hospital care.
“Free hospital parking will give comfort to vulnerable patients – many of them sick and elderly people – who find hospital trips harrowing and even stressful. It’s a game changer for this regional community and is an approach which offers pause for thought across the health sector” he said.
The free parking plan, announced in Parliament yesterday by Tweed MP Geoff Provest is expected to improve accessibility and help drive visits to the new facility, expected to be operational from 2023.
It follows an earlier HSU campaign to successfully lobby the State Government and some local councils to offer free hospital parking to health workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
