The delegates attending the second annual NHS childcare conference, Beyond Workplace Nurseries, heard that the on-site nurseries already up and running or on the way will provide 5,200 places, paving the way to meeting the 2004 target of 7,500 places.
The NHS's 70m childcare strategy is also on track to meet its target of providing access to childcare co-ordinators for all staff, with 124 co-ordinators already in place across the country and another 50 being appointed. More than 250,000 NHS staff have children aged under 14 and the childcare will enable more nurses and doctors to return to work in the NHS.
Andrew Foster, NHS human resources director, said that in 2003-04 there would be an emphasis on widening the focus of NHS childcare provision to include holiday playschemes, before-and after-school clubs, childminding networks, emergency childcare, and out-of-hours or overnight care.
In the London borough of Tower Hamlets an NHS childcare co-ordinator has started using an informal network of childminders to help with the childcare needs of staff at Bart's Hospital. The NHS, with support from the local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP), is to develop a Children Come First childminding network to meet quality assurance requirements.
Other NHS childcare initiatives include the Pan-London Workforce Development Confederation's NHS Childminding Network Project, which will see a childminding network manager working with EYDCPs in all 33 London boroughs to ensure childcare provision for local NHS trusts, while in Doncaster the EYDCP has an approved childminding network working in partnership with the NHS. It plans to employ a co-ordinator to develop the network and ensure provision for the three-and four-year-old children of NHS staff.
The NHS also wished to extend access to childcare provision to GPs and primary care staff, Mr Foster added. He explained that after 2004, funding for childcare will be part of local allocations to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and that NHS Workforce Development Confederations would have a particular responsibility to develop local childcare strategies.
Some delegates expressed concern about whether childcare would continue to be a priority once funding was devolved to a local level. Mr Roberts said PCTs would be told they had to continue to invest in childcare and NHS employers would need to provide support for childcare in order to meet the criteria of the NHS quality accreditation scheme.
Delegates also said they were worried about the lack of clarity over whether funding for childcare co-ordinators would continue after 2004, especially as the majority of co-ordinators were on fixed-term rather than permanent contracts. Mr Roberts said that he would be writing to NHS employers in the near future to point out that childcare co-ordination was not a short-term policy, and to urge them to move childcare co-ordinators on to permanent contracts.
Other speakers at the conference, organised by the Daycare Trust in association with the NHS, stressed the need for the NHS to work in partnership with the EYDCPs, Sure Start programmes, Children's Information Services and local authorities. NHS staff can find details of childcare by visiting the database on the website www.doh.gov.uk/iwl, which was launched at the conference.
