Parking is not the only issue at the RIE

In the press today and on social media there is a lot of energy being focused on the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh and its issue with parking. Ever since I have worked at the RIE there has always been an issue with parking. There has never been enough parking for the number of staff let alone patients or visitors.

This summer the new Sick Kids hospital is moving out to the RIE site as well as DCN. Now the new departments have been built on one of the previous car parks and there has been no replacement car parks being put in place.

There is up roar about this especially as staff have to pay to park. You can apply for a permit which costs £25 a month but these are now in short supply and to qualify for a permit you need to meet certain criteria. I remember when I was applying for my permit first off having a blue disabled parking badge did not move me up the line I still had to wait. I did eventually get a permit and was able to get a permit for a car park close to the hospital because of my blue badge but this to me is almost a waste of time because the welfare of the people working there is not addressed or prioritised.

For me and many others one of the biggest issues at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh is the smoking issue. There was a supposed smoking ban on NHS Lothian sites but what it seems to have done is nothing more than encourage people to smoke right outside the hospital doors. I remember just after the smoking ban came in I was working a night shift and halfway through hand over I had to get taken to A&E due to an asthma attack as a direct result of making my way into the hospital from my car. Sadly this was not the only occasion this occurred. There have been at least 6 occurrences where me getting from my car in the car park to the front door have resulted in me being exposed to people smoking where they should not be and ending up requiring hospital treatment and sometimes needing to go to intensive care.

Just now I am on a career break focusing on research but I am very concerned about going back to work next year. I will need to reapply for my permit but also if I don’t have a permit I will need to either pay for parking which is not always guaranteed, or risk getting public transport which could put my life at risk. I worry that will my hard work this year to get my health better be then set backwards by the risks that are involved in just getting into the hospital.

I have tried to speak to anyone who will listen about the smoking issue which is particularly bad at the Royal Infirmary but it seems to fall on deaf ears. The really shocking thing is that an area which is probably the worst for the number of people smoking is right below the respiratory ward and not even that is doing anything to get the smokers moved. I am not against people smoking- it is their choice if they want to end up giving themselves COPD and a self inflicted breathing condition but I am against them inflicting others to their bad habit. I didnt do anything to cause my lungs to get like this they are just like that so I do not expect to have them deteriorate as a direct consequence of someone breaking the law and smoking where they should not be working.

The most shocking bit about it is that the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh are happy to patrol the car parks and put tickets on cars which are parked in the wrong place but turn a blind eye to people smoking. I tell you a car parked in the wrong place does a lot less harm than people smoking.

When it comes to April 2020 I will need to think about wether it is worth the risk  to come back to work if the smoking issue is not addressed.

It is a sorry state of affairs when healthcare workers are questioning wether they continue in the career or where they are working because there is not adequate provision to support them.