Leicester hospital parking review follows claims of four-year permit waits

Hospital workers in Leicester report paying almost £9 to park during an eight-hour shift, or walking up to 20 minutes to cars left on residential streets, amid claims that staff permit waits can reach four years.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) has launched a review covering Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital and Leicester General Hospital, Leicester Mercury reports. It will examine parking provision, permit allocation and staff safety.

Permit queues and parking costs

A UHL physiotherapist, speaking anonymously to LeicestershireLive, said his application, made in January 2025, was in the “four figures” on the waiting list, with an estimated three years remaining. A ward sister managing a high dependency unit was reportedly facing another one to two years after working at the trust for around four years.

Workers without permits report visitor charges of £10 to £11 for a 12-hour shift, with estimated yearly costs of about £2,000. Some colleagues have reportedly opted not to own a car because of the expense.

Freedom of Information figures for 2025 recorded 2,270 staff parking spaces across the three hospitals, against a workforce exceeding 18,000. Glenfield had 1,056 staff bays, Leicester General 747 and the Royal Infirmary 467.

Patients and visitors had 1,256 spaces across the sites. The Royal Infirmary had 536 visitor and patient bays, making it the only hospital with more of those spaces than staff bays.

Safety and off-peak permits

Nurses have reportedly described being followed after dark near all three hospitals. The physiotherapist said he had not heard of physical attacks.

UHL associate director of sustainability Samantha Stanhope acknowledged staff frustration and said a Trust Travel Plan would inform the review over the coming months. It will consider demand, on-site and off-site parking, journeys to work and the needs of different roles and shifts.

The trust says weekday demand exceeds capacity between 8am and 3.45pm. All staff applying for off-peak permits are eligible for one, covering 3.45pm to 8am on weekdays and all weekend.

UHL also highlighted free inter-hospital Hospital Hopper travel, park and ride facilities, cycle-to-work schemes and its SafeZone app, through which staff can seek security assistance and share their location. Parking revenue pays for car park operations, with any surplus going towards patient care, the trust said.

Source: Leicester Mercury