Nurse comforting bereaved family gets parking fine

A nurse who was given a £100 parking fine while comforting a bereaved family has called for greater protections against fines for fellow nurses.

Varanica Whinfield, a community nurse from Oldbury, was giving care while parked at Perry Barr Village, the same location where fellow nurse Lisa Smith was recently fined after getting stuck in a lift while trying to treat a sick baby.

"I'm providing care [at] the last minute, which is like life and death," Whinfield told BBC Radio WM.

The BBC have contacted the company which issued the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) about the fine.

Whinfield added: "When it comes to health, you just can't say, oh, I'm going to wait. A sick or poorly person can't wait."

She said the nearest place she could find to park was a half an hour walk away, which was not practical because of the equipment she has to carry.

The community nurse had to visit Perry Barr village twice that day and is dreading the prospect of a second fine she cannot afford.

"I had to make sure the medication is given and is correct, and the other [visit], make sure I stay with the grieving family," she said.

"I can't just walk off. It's care."

While she said she would debate it in court if she had to, she was concerned about the number of her colleagues with similar parking fines, with many given for parking at Perry Barr Village.

"In the future, what happens if you just pay this one off? It's not fair. It shouldn't be like this," she said.

The issue of parking fines related to healthcare was also raised by Joe Lycett earlier this year, when he complained about receiving a fine after not paying for parking immediately while taking his son to Birmingham Children's Hospital's A&E.

Speaking on fellow comedian Katherine Ryan's podcast, What's My Age Again?, Lycett said: "They must be making so much money from people rushing into A&E, not paying for parking straight away. I think that's morally wrong."

Whinfield tried to appeal the parking fine through Popla, an independent appeals service for parking fines issued on private land, but it was refused.

A spokesperson for the organisation said the charge had been "validly issued by the operator".

"The appeals charter does allow charges to be cancelled for health workers on emergency calls, but only if the vehicle displays a British Medical Association (BMA) badge or authorised Health Emergency badge," they added.

"No badge was displayed, and nothing indicated she was a health worker, so the operator had no reason not to issue the charge."

They also said the operator had reduced the charge "beyond its obligations" to £20 after learning Whinfield was a nurse on duty, though Whinfield told the BBC she was not aware of any reduction to her parking fine.

Whinfield believes there should be parking protection in place for community nurses and emergency service workers so they are not fined for providing care.

"No nurse is actually looking out to go park illegally because that's one of the things that we actually do take into consideration," she said.

"And even if someone paid for this one what happens in the future? I'm a community nurse. I'll always be in the community."

A spokesperson for Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust said they were aware of "wider interest in issues at this location" and were "following developments".

A spokesperson from the Royal College of Nursing in the West Midlands pointed to the approach taken in Worcestershire, where they said councils had introduced a permit scheme to stop healthcare workers from receiving fines.

"Unfortunately this approach is far from universal," they added.

"We would urge more of our local councils, working with their local NHS trusts, to follow suit to enable community nurses to carry out their vital work without fear of becoming victim to a parking fine."

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