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!

It's a good idea in theory but I've worked in hospital too long and can just see how it would work out.

People would complain endlessly. They would complain it wasn't free, some would refuse to pay at pick up or if they had to pay before they would pay for an hour, use 4 hours and not pay the difference.

People would complaine if it was full, there would be no understanding that the space and staff weren't endless.

They would complained about food, activities and who little Tarquin was playing with.

There would be no way to please everyone, it just has disaster written all over it to me.

Well - you have the places that you have - (say 30, spread across age groups).

Release 10 for booking 3 months ahead (at basic rate)
Release 10 for booking 1 month ahead (at basic rate +10%)
Release 5 for booking a week ahead (at basic rate +25%)
Release 5 for boking up to 12 hours ahead (basic rate +50%)

No patient walk-ins to prevent unpleasantness for staff to deal with (and staff emergency cover referred by HR).

lunar outsource it to a chain nursery who are experienced enough to 'manage' the clients and reduce reputational risk to the hospital.

Most hospitals do have (bloody expensive) nurseries for staffs children. I don't think people would like it if there was x number of places used in this way, it wouldn't feel like a proper permanent nursery placement for the regular children.

OP, how much would you pay me to look after your children, in a (possibly germy) hospital crèche?

They will be dumped in front of the telly for a few hours in my no-frills portocabin

It could work, IKEA manage to run a free creche for over 3s who turn up on the day. Realistically it would probably need to be more like gym creche where children are registered and have settling in sessions rather than just turn up. In US hospital dramas there is always a creche the staff use too.

The one DHs work use is affiliated to a regular nursery - but actually located around the corner. In this way, I think they can reduce their overheads, and they have more staff to juggle with - but the regular children and drop in children don't have any contact.

Just read Lunar's post... Err, I retract my offer

Go on the childcare.co.uk website and hire a sitter for a few hours.

As a single parent with no help this thread does strike me a bit as making a mountain out of a molehill. You just sort something out. It's hard granted if something comes up completely unexpectedly, but you will be given an appointment where you have time to plan. If the worst comes to the worst, then your husband will have to phone in sick or make something up if his work are that unflexible.

Where would every hospital put a crèche.

Trust me if there was space like that in the hospital I work at it would be converted into a clinical area.

You can put portable cabins, but that takes away parking areas.

The nhs just don't have the space, the funding or the policies in place.

I totally agree that a crèche would be useful. Having a miscarriage at the moment, which has meant finding someone to look after dd three times in the last fortnight. I've used an nct friend and a grandparent. I'm going back tomorrow, and I'll have to bring dd with me.

I've often had to take dd into appointments with me, and it's not helpful at all.

I would be happy to pay though. I wonder why the nhs can't join up with a local soft play centre/nursery and outsource the crèche.

I often have appointments and I ask someone to watch my DCs and I am happy to return the favour. I don't think the NHS should fund a service which just encourages us to be weird and antisocial. On what planet is it more acceptable to mess around the hospital staff who are trying to help you get an appointment than to ask a minor favour of a friend or husband (in the OPs case).

Yes most hospitals have a nursery either on site or nearby for staff children but most are oversubscribed anyway so doubt they could offer ad-hod care for patients children.
It's not the person booking the appointments fault you can't get Childcare.

But would they really refuse to scan you if you turned up with kid in toe? Is it just to discourage you from bringing him? I think they would be opening themselves up to litigation if there was something that a scan would have picked up but they refused it on silly grounds like this.

No hospitals do not need on site childcare. You go to hospital for treatment. You and your family have to retain responsibility for you childcare. the hospital should not have to shoulder that. Seriously how much do people expect from the NHS?

And anybody who thinks this would be perfectly simple and fine, please just think about how much stress there is re hospital car parking. Cost, times, location blah blah. And that's for something inanimate. You'd have to have a death wish to want to run a crèche for people attending hospital.

You go to hospital for treatment. You and your family have to retain responsibility for you childcare. the hospital should not have to shoulder that

What if you are a single mother with no family support?

I think it is a great idea but I do not think it should be free. I'd be happy to pay for a creche if I had an appointment.

I really, really wish shopping centres had crèches. Would love to put my kids in one and enjoy shopping and lunch in peace!

Addenbrookes used to have a creche. We used it regularly for our 2 dds when dh was in and out. Childcare was a nightmare for us, combination of not living near family and also being over an hour away from the hospital.

It worked really well for us but, weirdly, it seemed to be very underused. It closed a few years ago, not sure why but I assume funding.