Staff working for one of Scotland's biggest health boards are being forced to queue for buses late at night under a controversial regime which has banned them from hospital car parks.
NHS Lothian has reintroduced a parking permit scheme, suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, that is designed to keep spaces free at its hospitals for patients.
However, thousands have signed a petition in protest at the scheme - and pictures provided to Edinburgh Live show a huge queue of staff from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh waiting to get a bus to a park and ride two miles away.
While around 1800 staff members have been given a permit to park on site, a number told of having to rely on public transport - often late at night following long shifts - having had their applications rejected.
However, images shared by staff appear to suggest that parking spaces on site at the RIE are in plentiful supply, even during the day.
NHS Lothian has confirmed they are closely monitoring the situation and are continuing to distribute permits to staff who fit the criteria.
The health board bosses was set to announce changes to staff on Tuesday night in a bid to resolve the issues.
One distressed member of staff, who had worked for the health board for 13 years, said she found herself crying on the journey home having been caught up in the delay.
The worker praised bosses for laying on shuttle buses from the park and ride in the morning to help staff get in on time but said it was a different story after late shifts finish.
"In the morning it is excellent. There is a shuttle bus every 15 minutes, which is comfortable and drops you off in the morning. I was impressed," she said.
"My shift finishes at 9pm and the last shuttle bus is 8.15pm, so I have to get a Lothian Bus. I am usually the only person to get off the bus at the car park.
"I have started phoning my husband as I get off the bus as I am frightened walking past groups of men in cars.
"For the last few hours of my shift I am thinking about it and worried.
"The first time I was there after a 12-hour shift I cried my way home, work is so hard at the moment.
"It is busy, we are really short staffed, so many operations being cancelled so there is guilt at not doing your best for your patients.
"I've never seen staff morale so low. I would never put myself in this position in the dark, alone, in a dangerous area in normal life and it makes me really upset that NHS Lothian feels it is acceptable to force me into this situation as I have no other option to travel to work."
Staff have repeatedly raised concerns over the changes to the parking scheme at the hospital that were introduced on January 17.
Since then a petition has gone around with over 28,000 signatures from staff members who disagree with the decision to revert back to the 'points based' permit system.
Jim Crombie, NHS Lothian's deputy chief executive: "The staff parking permit scheme at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was reintroduced because the site had become seriously congested due to the sheer volume of cars accessing the site each day.
"This posed a danger to staff, patients and visitors and compromised the ability of emergency blue light vehicles to access the hospitals.
"We are continually reviewing the parking arrangements across the campus site, considering both staff feedback and data collected by our parking teams to help shape and inform future decisions."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
