NHS workers have slammed plans to spend £320,000 on a "tiny" garden at Glasgow's super-hospital amid staff shortages and the cost-of-living crisis.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is creating an outdoor space for patients and staff on derelict land on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus.
The health board said the area, close to car park two, will offer a healing, restorative space that will benefit employees and inpatients with birch trees, wildflower meadows and sheltered seating areas.
A spokesman said the board managed a vast estate and had a duty to "conserve and manage biodiversity".
However, the project has not gone down well with staff who questioned the cost "for a few planters and fences" that are too far away to access on breaks.
When the plans were shared by the board on the staff intranet the post generated around 60 angry comments. The notice has now been removed.
One said: "Many wonder how resources can be found for vanity projects like this, when staffing levels, pay and hundreds/thousands of patients are either trapped in hospital awaiting community services or stuck on ever growing waiting lists.
Another employee said: "We already have plenty of greenspace with trees and a pond too to sit on on our breaks.
"We do not need this tiny garden that's too far from the hospital for us to be able to get to on our breaks, we don't have too long and the time we do have we can't waste traipsing to the other side of the site."
One worker described the project as, "nothing more than a smokers' garden."
A spokesman for NHS GGC said: "Improvements to greenspace and biodiversity play a key role in improving the health and wellbeing of our patients, staff and the wider community we serve.
"NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde manages a substantial outdoor estate and as a public body, we have a duty under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to conserve and enhance biodiversity as far as possible.
"Funding for the project has come from our charitable Endowment Fund, NHSGGC and the Scottish Government’s climate change and sustainability capital funding.
"As part of our commitment to sustainability and to create an outdoor space for recreation and enjoyment of nature, a derelict site at the QEUH was identified for development.
"The space will also enhance local biodiversity, and will create a place where staff and patients can enjoy greenspace and take part in growing activities.
"We hope the new space will be available for all to enjoy later this summer."
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