PARENTS may be forced to give up work to care for their children if plans to close a hospital nursery go ahead in August.
The Homerton Hospital Foundation Trust says it can no longer afford to subsidise the Roundabout nursery on Kenworthy Road that is run with NHS funds and has an annual loss of £132,000.
But worried parents say that finding equivalent alternative care will be so difficult they will have to give up work.
Hackney mum Vassiliki Panagoitou said: “I will probably have to give up my part-time job if we don’t find another good nursery for our 15-month-old son, who has settled in there so nicely”
“This is really short notice for us, as most nurseries in East London have a very long waiting list. It will be even harder for the parents who bring their children to the nursery every day.”
The NHS Trust said that only 24 out of 3,000 hospital staff take advantage of reduced rates offered for the nursery. They added that an increase in rental and overhead costs has contributed to the expense.
A total of 48 children will have to move nursery if the closure goes ahead, including those of other parents who work elsewhere.
“Parents have said that all the other high quality nurseries in the area have a two-year waiting list and have shorter opening hours, which could prove difficult for some, particularly parents who work at the hospital,” said Sarah Miller, one of the parents behind the @saveroundabout Twitter campaign.
The nursery, which is a five-minute walk from the hospital, was rated “good” in its last Ofsted inspection report. The nursery is useful for working parents as it is open between 7.30am-6.30pm.
The Hackney Post investigated the waiting-lists for full-time nurseries rated “good” or “outstanding” within a mile radius of the Roundabout nursery.
Only seven out of 20 met these criteria and all had waiting list times of six months or more.
Homerton Hospital Chief Executive, Nancy Hallett, said: “We have looked at means of reducing the cost of running the nursery, and at increasing fees.
“However, the size of the financial gap is such that we do not see this as an option.
“We currently support Homerton staff by providing information and advice on a range of childcare matters, and this will increase in the coming months.
We offer our staff flexible working hours and paid carer’s leave and this will continue.”
Editor