Private companies are issuing hefty penalty charge notices – sometimes even in a hospital’s own car park Community nurse Gemma Hayes* was on call and on a tight schedule. She left her car in the residents’ car park of a block where her last patient of the day lived and displayed her professional carer’s badge on the dashboard. When she returned she’d been charged £60. “I was allocated 30 minutes for the call but spent an extra 45 minutes unpaid overtime as the elderly, housebound patient had additional needs,” says Hayes, who earns £24,200 and regularly works an extra unpaid hour on top of her eight-hour shifts. “I appealed, offering confirmation that I was carrying out a patient visit. It was rejected. Continue reading...