HOSPITAL staff have said they are worried about losing their parking permits after a reassessment of the system was announced.

Last year, Colchester Hospital made controversial changes to its staff parking provision, with bosses introducing a needs-based system for employees.

Permits were allocated on criteria like where staff live and family commitments but employee parking was already strained with only about 1,000 designated places for 3,000 staff.

Now concern is growing due to a reassessment of the system meaning staff must reapply for permits.

One nurse said: “We struggle to park anyway because we are not allowed to park in the visitor spaces. Often we have to park on kerbs which means a lot of people get tickets.

“I am worried I will lose my parking permit meaning after a 12 and-a-half hour shift I have to worry about getting home.”

East Suffolk and North Essex Trust, which runs Colchester Hospital, said the exact number of new permits set be issued cannot be confirmed until applications close at the end of the year.

Head of facilities Fiona Sparrow said: “We need to reassess all permits on an annual basis to make the process fair and because individual circumstances, which determine whether or not a permit is allocated, can change.

“We know there were issues last year when we introduced the new parking permit system for staff, so we have made some changes this time round.

“We have reviewed the needs-based points system used to decide parking permit applications to make it as fair as possible for all staff, including those who live in areas poorly served by public transport.

“Colleagues who work permanent night or weekend shifts will also be given dedicated out of hours permits.

“We appreciate parking at the Colchester Hospital site is challenging for our staff and patients but we are trying to make things easier and there is a team in place to help answer any questions or concerns colleagues may have.”

Last month, the hospital unveiled plans to build a new £1.5 million 140 space staff car park as a single-storey extension on top of an existing parking area.