An update to all staff received on 11/01/2023 from CEO, Paul Winspear.
There are advantages of our JBH site being nestled amongst the local community surrounded by residential houses and two schools. There are also disadvantages, and one of these is the lack of parking.
This is becoming an emotive issue for some, so I want to establish some facts and ground rules please.
There is no contractual provision for you to park at JBH. Free parking is available on a first come, first served basis but that’s as far as it goes. All staff would do well to think of a parking space at JBH as a bonus which is not to be relied upon. By contrast, the staff at Uphill Primary school and Westhaven school do not have allocated parking (hence the number of cars parking in Uphill Village through the week during term times, and a meeting has been held with the Principals of the schools and the Uphill Village Society to discuss the problem and to see what else can perhaps be done – ask any member of the Hospice Operations Group for more details if you’re interested).
Recently, we have reduced our Disabled parking bays from 5 to 3. We did this for two reasons: firstly, 5 was more than we required both legally and practically; secondly, we are desperate for more spaces for staff and visitors. As regards the remaining 3 Disabled parking bays, these are for Disabled Badge Holders only. I do not park in these bays regardless of how late I am or how hard it is raining, and I expect no-one else to do so either. There are no exceptions.
Over the next few months, we are undertaking a considerable amount of improvement works at JBH – some of these projects have been years in the planning and all of them are for the betterment of our patient services, visitors and staff. There will be disruption, patience and understanding will be required, and there’s no getting around that until the works are completed. Parking will be restricted, discussions are ongoing with the Hospice Operations Group, and the restrictions will be published in due course. Priority will be given to certain categories of staff; this is not on the basis of essential staff and non-essential staff because there is no such thing – you are all essential otherwise we would terminate your contracts. It will be on the basis of our patients and service users and our clinicians who work with the areas of the hospice supporting these people directly. Support Services staff, Retail staff and Fundraising staff are equally essential to our overall objectives but do not work directly in the patient-facing parts of the hospice (with certain exceptions including but not necessarily limited to: our Housekeepers and our Kitchen staff). On this note, I can assure you there are many occasions when I am running late for a meeting after dropping kids to school, frazzled & stressed, it’s raining, and I really do want a parking space. But if no space is available I never park in a Visitor bay or a Disabled bay, instead I always turn around and park on the road however far away that may be. I expect nothing less of all our staff.
Other things we are looking into on this topic:
- Car Pooling
- Ride to Work scheme
- Park ‘n’ Ride service
- Allocated Hospice staff parking in Uphill Village
All items are being progressed, but I predict that parking will always be a difficult issue at JBH. We need our staff to be understanding, reasonable, patient, and accept the inherent limitations of our location and site.
Any complaints or appeals on the topic of parking should be sent directly to me please, not to any other member of staff.
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Paul Winspear
Chief Executive