BOSSES at Poole Hospital NHS Trust look set to spend £90,000 on a new park-and-ride scheme for staff.

The plans are being discussed after a waiting list had to be set up for the 40 staff currently without a parking permit.

All places on the hospital site are taken, as well as 250 at the park-and-ride facility at Poole Stadium.

Hospital chiefs are keen to provide all staff with a parking space to help with retention and recruitment, but the trust is unable to provide any further subsidy to pay for off-site parking.

The possibility of implementing a park-and- ride facility for staff travelling from the north and west at the Borough of Poole's site located in Creekmoor, where around 400 places are available, is now being discussed.

To pay for the proposed scheme, which it is estimated would require funding of around £90,000, the current car parking prices would need to be increased for staff.

Trust bosses believe the best option would be a percentage salary contribution, where staff earning £6,150 or below would pay 30p a day, rising to a maximum of £2 a day for staff earning more than £40,000.

If given the green light by the trust's board, these new charges would be brought into place in June when the Creekmoor park-and-ride facility will be up and running.

Derek Morgan, director of facilities management for the trust, said: "Over the last 18 months there has been considerable pressure on parking availability for staff at Poole Hospital.

"While this has been partly addressed by offering incentives - ie car sharing, use of public transport, cycling and scooters - these are not practical options for the majority of staff whose car is the only reasonable form of transport."

First published: April 27