to think if hospital's could really benefit from a crèche facility

[wheresthelight]

i am having massive issues trying to schedule an appointment for a scan at my local hospital because they have a policy that if you turn up with kids and no additional adult to mind them they wont do the scan. now i totally understand this but the appointment lady keeos getting really shirty on the phone with me when i say i can't do a given day as i have no childcare. i am sahm currently, dp works nights and we have no famiky locally to help out. i need to arrange around his days off which do not follow a set pattern unfortunately. i can only imagine how hard single parents with no support manage!

surely hospitals should understand thia and would benefit from some form of crèche facility? i would happily pay a few quid to leave dd so i didnt have to worry about it and it would mean that things would progress a lot quicker.

i know funding isn't their for it through the nhs but it would be nice in an ideal world!

I still don't understand why it's not an option?

Yes, he'll get less sleep but he'll cope...like most parents cope on very little sleep. Except in your DH's case, it's once in a blue moon and not every day.

No I don't think they should. I think perhaps it would be a good idea for single parents who have been inpatients long term so they can see their children, but not someone who needs an outpatient appointment.

Does anyone know if the crèches at the local leisure centres operate at a loss? It might pay for itself, it might even operate in profit and become the same hot potato as hospital parking.

A creche at a local leisure centre will bring in revenue, as more people will be able to use the gym/swimming pool/sauna etc.

worra because it would mean 3-4 hours of me being away and he works long night shifts and his contract requires him to have a certain amount of sleep between shifts due to the nature of the job. he gets home about 8am most days and has to leave here at 5 due to traffic. it would mean him getting only 3 hours sleep. could you drive on a motorway and then do a technical and physical role where peoples lives are potentially at stake on that little sleep? i very much doubt it.

he could take a day off!!
that is what most people do.

Yep, I get that. But I wonder how many people rely on partners or family taking time off work to allow a person to get to hospital. I think there would be a big demand for the service. They could at least trial it.

I'm not saying it's ideal OP but it's what parents up and down the land often have to do, when push comes to shove.

His contract cant force him to sleep anyway.

If you really don't have any other option such as your kid's friend's parents/family/friends, then I'm afraid something has to give for this appointment.

Why is OP getting the eye-roll treatment?

I gym crèche is a well established idea - and if its considered worthwhile to give parents the option to leave DC somewhere while they do a few lengths at the pool - why not to get hospital treatment.

FWIW - with healthcare issues - it never rains but it pours. Saying 'getting another Mum to mind for you' or 'get DH to take annual leave' doesn't reflect how there may be repeated appointments - and in between OP may also be needing help & support from those around her.

I'd also be a bit pissed off if I felt that the hospital were not acting sympathetically.

Doesn't he have days off?

With what funding littlemslazybones?

I'd agree in an ideal world but right now, the NHS is buckling so much that they just cant cope on a normal day.

My partner quite has quite often had to go to work with 3 hours or less sleep if the children have been up during the night, he has a 1.5 hour commute either way too.
As a one off for your partner it is doable, lots of coffee to help him stay awake, or he could book a days holiday.
I've had many appointments Ive needed to attend both for myself and my dd, sometimes I can't bring my youngest, i either book the first appointment of the day so dp can go in later or he takes the day off.

OP said that days off a rota-ed rather than fixed - and appointment has to be fixed in advance.

I was under the impression that heavy goods driving/pilot etc. genuinely did have contractual requirement to use rest period to rest.

And as I said before - when someone gets sick - its so rarely a one off appointment - rather a string of appointments and feeling crappy in between. Annual leave and favours will get munched up very quickly - so it's totally not unreasonable to wish for a 'tailor made' solution.

OP: is there a non-hospital affiliated childcare provider that might help? E.g. nearby day nursery.

And I don't see that it has to be loss-making- because I think they would get well used - and could probably benefit from toy donations/volunteers from the local church or FE college etc. to help out.

Children being in a hospital environment needlessly should be avoided anyway so that's another reason why I don't like the idea.

You could decorate it all you want but it would still be part of the hospital and infection control would be a big one for me.

There's nothing wrong wishing for a solution but it isn't going to bring about the solution wanted so the only thing to do is look to what you can do.
I had nearly two years of appointmenta, dp's work were very accommodating when he spoke to them about the extra support I needed for them at the time, if they hadn't of been I would have looked to my second option which would have been to approach local childcarers/nurseries to ask about adhoc care provided it was booked in advance (and probably paid at premium) they were the only options to me.

Maybe it could be outside, in it's own building? Like one of those ports cabin classrooms of the eighties? Perhaps you could outsource the service, maybe a private business could make it work?

It's = its
Ports cabin= portacabin

unfortunately there arent any other optio s than scheduling around dp's shifts - and worra yes it can be contracted actually and it is. if someone you loved dies as a result of dp not having the required amoubt of sleep i am sure you eould have a very different view of it.

i am not saying it should be funded by the nhs and if you read my op you will see i said in an ideal world.

my point is if they dont want kids there then thwy habe no right to get shirty when i say i cannot do on x/y/z day because i have no access to childcare.

i habe regular appointments with the hospitals and for most of them taking dd isn't an issue but understandably for thinks like mri scans etc she cannot be on the room and cannot be left alone.

the scan is key to the dates etc of subsequent appointments and as othera have said favours from friends get eaten up pretty fast if i even had any who didn't work full time and were available to help

It could be an arrangement with an existing day nursery local to the hospital - which runs a drop-in room - to which clients are referred to from the hospital. I don't think the issue is cost or instantly-available provision - more that when you're sick you don't have the head space to hustle childcare on top of everything else.

FWIW - hospital which I work in has a staff nursery on site. How does that fit with the 'children shouldn't be near hospitals' world view?

There is nothing stopping anyone from opening it as a private business if they feel it has commercial viability.

OP you're just being daft now. 'If your loved one dies'. If I make mistakes at work someone may die. Many of us have job roles in which people's lives are a risk if we make a mistake. It doesn't stop us from being able to take some time off or do something to allow us to look after our own children whilst other parent gets medical attention!

Oh dear, people would have a fit if they saw the one in our local hospital. It's a circular open space (fenced in), with essentially corridors surrounding it. Perhaps all the paedophiles mumsnet posters imagine would surround it are keeping out the germs. But then I haven't noticed that the Dutch have more infected kids and their kids (and parents) are amongst the happiest in the world.

I think it's a good idea OP. My recently had an emergency pregnancy scan due to heavy bleeding. We have no options for childcare nearby and I couldn't find a babysitter who could do the time I needed (around 40 mins in the middle of the day). I had the choice of going on my own for potentially bad news or DH and DD coming with me (didn't really want DD to be there). So although DD was allowed in the room, I still would have paid for a crèche facility if one was available. I also had to have weekly physio for 8 months after DD was born and DH couldn't be at home to look after DD every weds afternoon for 8 months. Again, they were fine with me taking DD but it meant I was concentrating on her rather than the physio and again would have paid for a crèche facility if there was one.

My point about the contract and the sleep is that it can't force someone to sleep, because nothing can...not even sleeping tablets.

If you're ok with your DH not stepping up the the plate here for one scan appointment, then that's up to you.

But in the absence of a creche, what are you going to do? Because you're going to have to do something eventually.