In the feature about home carers, 'Minder or nanny?' (Professional Nanny, 26 February), I was disappointed to see Tricia Pritchard of the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses say it was 'like asking a clinically trained nurse to register as an auxiliary'. By this, she implied that she thinks nannies are far superior to childminders.
What a totally unprofessional comment. We are all, childminders and nannies alike, trying to earn our living looking after other people's children and we all suffer from comments that don't value our skills. PANN should not downgrade childminders with such disparaging comments.
Nannies tend not to have their own homes and work in their employer's homes, while childminders tend to have children and their own homes, from where they usually work.
If nannies really feel they are the equivalent of registered childminders, then perhaps one would like to come to my house for a day and do my job. I may have three under-fives plus my own three children, I may also be dealing with social workers and interviewing parents - who like to see me at work and don't all wish to see me in the evening.
Childminders are also committed to attending training courses, as required by Ofsted, updating our knowledge and first aid regularly, as well as keeping copious amounts of paperwork.
As for the home carer scheme, I would have thought that the main issue in how few nannies have registered for the scheme was the need for them to first become a registered childminder, even though they may not have their own home. Under the scheme they would just have their place of work registered instead. The nanny's employers would benefit by having their home inspected because it would be deemed a safe environment for their children and they would become eligible for tax credits to help with the cost of childcare.
So let each of us do our own job without knocking the other. Many nannies go on to be childminders, but not many childminders go on to be nannies.
Plus we don't all get 'nursery duties only' as we have full-scale houses and families to run too.
