North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust plans to close two nurseries by the end of 2014, with 50 jobs at risk and the loss of nearly 200 childcare places.
The decision was made after the trust carried out a review of the service, which found the nurseries had become ‘uneconomic’ to run.
During the debate on nursery schools yesterday, Stockton North's Labour MP Alex Cunningham asked the minister if he would ask his officials to see what advice and support they could offer to save the two nurseries from closure.
Mr Gyimah told the MP to write to him and said that he would ask DfE officials to look into the matter.
Mr Cunningham said, ‘The closure plans appeared to be announced out of the blue and I am concerned about the loss of this provision described as good on both sites by Ofsted inspectors.'
He has written to the chief executive of the Trust, Alan Foster, asking about how the closure has been handled.
‘The trust writes of a consultation, but it appears that the decision has already been taken without any prior discussions with staff or parents, ' he said.
‘I was therefore delighted that the minister promised me, during the debate in parliament today, that he would examine what may be able to be done to save the nurseries.’
During the debate Pat Glass, Labour MP for North West Durham, said she was disappointed at the decision as the nurseries were held up as an example of best practice. Chair of the education committee, Conservative MP Graham Stuart, said the trust needed to listen to the arguments against closure.
Mr Cunningham said, ‘Parents, employees and Unison are already working hard on the campaign to save the nurseries, and I am sure the intervention of the minister will be very welcome.’
Rainbow Day Nursery currently provides care for up to 58 children on the site of the University Hospital of Hartlepool. North Tees Day Nursery is registered to provide places for up to 120 children in the grounds of the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton-on-Tees. Both settings received a good rating from Ofsted at their last inspections.
Fifty-four full and part-time staff across the two settings will be affected.
The trust has launched a staff consultation and said it was in the process of contacting parents to inform them of the closure. It has also compiled a list of alternative local childcare facilities, which it has offered to send parents on request.
Chief executive of the trust Mr Foster said, ‘It’s vital to stress that this decision is not in any way a reflection of the quality of our nursery staff who provide an excellent service. However in these difficult times we cannot continue to offer a service which spends more than it brings in and therefore has to be subsidised with support from frontline healthcare budgets.’
Both nurseries primarily serve children of hospital staff, although there are also places provided for other members of the local community.
Unison area organiser Mark Edmundson, said, ‘This will have a devastating impact on employees, the local community and staff. At a time when the government talks about getting single parents into work, the closure of the day nurseries will make it impossible for ordinary working people to balance their work and family commitments. The trust must rethink this decision and consider other business models to continue providing this vital service to working people.’
