Fuming staff at Glasgow’s flagship super-hospital have warned they’ll have to ditch their electric cars or quit after an “impossible” new charging scheme was brought in.
Nurses and doctors now face a four-hour time limit for docking their electric vehicle (EV) at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QUEH) – or they’ll be hit with a £40 fine.
But the “crazy” new rule comes despite virtually all chargers at the hospital being super-slow and requiring up to ten hours to recharge cars.
Since the controversial policy was brought in last Monday, one QUEH staffer said they had already been slapped with a £48 bill – including a fine – because they had been dealing with a medical emergency and had been unable to move their car.
It comes as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) chiefs have encouraged workers to find greener ways to travel such as switching from a petrol car to an electric.
In furious exchanges in a staff social media group seen by the Record, overworked docs and nurses at the QEUH slammed the “fiasco” and said they would never be able to move their cars in the middle of a busy shift.
And workers travelling by EV from other cities like Stirling and Edinburgh said the new scheme would be completely “unworkable” for them because their cars need to fully recharge after the long commute.
One worker hit out: “It’s an effective ban on staff ever charging their car after encouraging us all to buy an EV and do our bit for the environment.”
They continued: “I feel this is a very bad policy because we can never get away during the day to move a car, the car park is full to the brim during the day so there will be nowhere to move the car to, and EVs take longer than 4 hours to charge in most cases.
“I’ve complained about it because I think they need to rethink the time limit.”
Another commenter said: “Genuinely might have to look at changing my car if they keep the 4 hour rule, there’s no way I’d be guaranteed to leave shift and move it before time was up.”
A worker replied to this: “I’m in a position I can’t change my car as [I’m in] negative equity.
“Have an 80 mile round trip commute… could leave NHSGCC and move closer to home I guess.”
Another QEUH staffer joked: “Lucky to get away for my unpaid lunch break never mind a car move.”
One worker who commutes to Glasgow from the capital said they’d now need to take the bus in instead of using their EV.
They complained: “It takes 10hrs on those slow chargers. And where would you move the car to after 4hrs?
“[My] car can charge in 30 mins. It’s because these chargers are painfully slow. They’re the kind you’d use at home to charge overnight…
“This policy has definitely been drawn up with no idea of how the cars actually charge.”
Another user asked of the policy “How will that ever work?” to which someone replied: “It won’t. It’s impossible.”
On Thursday, a worker wrote: “Just been charged £48 for the new EV charging station. I couldn’t move my car in time as I was in the middle of an emergency.”
Others suggested the move goes against the health board’s own sustainability policy, with someone replying: “When you think you’re doing something for the better then you get penalised for it.”
NHSGGC’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy pledges to “ensure staff are empowered and enabled in making sustainable changes”. The health board was asked for comment.
A health board spokesman said: “The four-hour limit for the use of EV points is designed to promote equity of access for patients, visitors and staff. The charging points are provided for the purpose of destination ‘top-up’ charging for NHSGGC’s employees, visitors and patients and corporate fleet.
“They should not be relied upon as the primary charging source. NHSGGC policy on this is available here and is in line with other public sector bodies in Scotland.”
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