{"id":281881,"date":"2026-02-13T08:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281881\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:10:13","slug":"behind-health-nzs-backtrack-on-parking-plans-decision-made-after-hospital-staff-blast-ridiculous-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281881\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Health NZ\u2019s backtrack on parking plans: Decision made after hospital staff blast \u2018ridiculous\u2019 conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

In documents leaked to the Herald, healthcare workers whose feedback was received in time were united in their disdain.<\/p>\n

\"HospitalHospital staff reacted with frustration surrounding the proposal to charge for staff parking. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unacceptable. This is just lining the pockets of private providers at the expense of patients, visitors and staff,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous to have to spend our dinner break walking 15 to 20 minutes to move our car closer because we couldn\u2019t find a car park unless we arrive extremely early,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

Among the topics put up for feedback by Health NZ was parking charges and the idea that they would be linked to market rates, but with free or reduced parking for those in need.<\/p>\n

\"AA woman pays for her parking ticket at the Auckland City Hospital. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

\u201cParking charges will be made to staff, people and visitors who use the health services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarket pricing for the location \u2013 alongside comparative public transport pricing and the costs to provide and maintain the carpark \u2013 will be used as a guide to set parking rates and reviewed on a two-yearly basis to ensure that parking charges are fair and equitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an extra cost to a population that may already be struggling financially\u201d<\/p>\n

In the leaked material, feedback from one person talked about patients who were already dealing with serious medical and life events that had added to their financial struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have clients who have to be here for oncology treatments [that] take an extended amount of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have mental health clients… on meds who have to wait two hours after their injection to be monitored. This is an extra cost to a population that may already be struggling financially.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HospitalHospital staff said the proposed charges would impact staff and patients alike. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

Another woman highlighted what many staff have pointed out in discussions – the safety factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a female nurse working shifts in Auckland City, getting the bus home in the dark is not practical, nor would I feel safe doing this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only shift I can bus to is the morning shift starting at 7am. For my other shifts, I have to drive in and park in the hospital carpark.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease do not increase the parking [fees].\u201d<\/p>\n

Health NZ said yesterday afternoon that it had stopped consultation on its draft car parking policy and that any changes to hospital parking must be considered carefully – particularly in the context of cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Health NZ said its focus remains on ensuring patients, visitors and staff can access safe, secure and sufficient parking.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth New Zealand will not be progressing any changes at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NZ Nurses Organisation claimed Health NZ had failed to meet consultation requirements, as the union had not been consulted beforehand.<\/p>\n

The union said it was an \u201cembarrassing U-turn\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTe Whatu Ora needs to go back to the drawing board…\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChristchurchChristchurch healthcare worker and NZ Nurses Organisation delegate Al Dietschin. Photo \/ NZNO<\/p>\n

Christchurch health worker and NZNO delegate Al Dietschin said this highlighted how last year there were \u201cseveral shocking attacks on hospital health workers forced to walk to their cars because they can\u2019t park at or near their workplaces\u201d.<\/p>\n

That included a Palmerston North nurse being carjacked and a Christchurch nurse being left with a concussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members provided robust feedback that charging health workers market rates for car parks was not the answer and would leave those unable to pay up to $100 a week even less safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an embarrassing U-turn for Te Whatu Ora, but it is heartening they have listened to our members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Female staff afraid to walk to cars after late-night shifts<\/p>\n

Amid the backdown from health bosses, the Herald reported yesterday how car parking in and around hospitals \u2013 particularly for workers \u2013 had become a controversial issue for many hospitals around the country, including hospitals in Auckland, Christchurch and Whang\u0101rei.<\/p>\n

At Christchurch Hospital, shift workers have been known to park about 15 minutes\u2019 walk away from the hospital due a lack of car parking spots.<\/p>\n

One man, who asked not to be named, said his partner consistently felt unsafe having to walk past Hagley Park \u2013 with limited lighting \u2013 to get to her car parked on the other side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been finishing around 2am and 3am because of the backlog and not having enough staff. Then to [have to] go outside and be threatened trying to get to their vehicles \u2013 it\u2019s terrifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"StaffStaff at Christchurch Hospital have reported feeling unsafe walking to free parking away from its grounds. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just another slap in the face to all the frontline workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about my partner going to work and finishing late shifts … and being able to safely get home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others had started to walk in small groups after work to get to their vehicles safely.<\/p>\n

The man said he often stayed on the phone to his partner as she walked to her car late at night.<\/p>\n

He wanted health officials and authorities to come up with a better parking solution for shift-working staff, in particular, before something bad happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a ticking time bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In documents leaked to the Herald, healthcare workers whose feedback was received in time were united in their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,46851,4057,45290,8278,14134,18957,6637,134,2241,9641,8454,1362,225,111,43,139,69,3272,90,30205,2171,29056,7676,62241,41401,1516,1361,35967,4478],"class_list":["post-281881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-backtrack","tag-behind","tag-blast","tag-conditions","tag-decision","tag-feedback","tag-gave","tag-health","tag-hospital","tag-idea","tag-including","tag-made","tag-market","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzs","tag-on","tag-parking","tag-plans","tag-proposed","tag-rates","tag-ridiculous","tag-slammed","tag-staff","tag-that","tag-unfair","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}