The 25-place setting, which was officially opened on 22 July, is being run by nursery chain Buffer Bear in partnership with Barts and the London NHS Trust. The nursery has been open since the end of March, and will have more than 40 places once refurbishment is completed early next year. Buffer Bear also runs the Trust's other 64-place on-site nursery, at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
Paul White, chief executive of Barts and the London NHS Trust, who officially opened the nursery, said, 'Fundamentally, it is about providing childcare - the essence we will be providing is additional support to staff.'
Earlier this month, the Trust's childcare initiatives won it runner-up in the Improving Working Lives category at the Health and Social Care Awards.
Helen Ellis, who oversees the NHS strategy at the pan-London programme office, said, 'A major aid to recruitment and retention is to offer childcare and support to working parents, through increased access to childcare provision. We now have more than 40 childcare co-ordinators offering staff a range of services, and ensuring they are better able to be at work.'
The NHS is developing about 1,500 on-site nursery places at hospitals across the capital, as part of the Government's 70m NHS Childcare Strategy to provide 150 on-site nurseries in England by 2004, and give all employees access to childcare co-ordinators.
Carla Panter, the London NHS Trust's childcare co-ordinator, said it received 'about 400 calls a month' from NHS staff who had been let down by childcare and that the greatest demand among staff was for childcare for the under-twos. She added that the Trust also ran a childcare voucher scheme, a maternity 'keep in touch' scheme, and is setting up a childminding network.
Priority places go to staff based at St Barts and the London NHS Trust, but the nursery is open to other NHS employees. Staff qualify for a tax break on the on-site nursery place as part of the Trust's fee-direct salary sacrifice scheme, which brought the cost of a place for a child under two down to 'as little as 79 a week, rising to 111 a week for employees at the top of the pay scale', Ms Panter said.
Dr Kay Turner, Buffer Bear managing director, said, 'It's very good to work with an organisation that's so committed.'
She added that Buffer Bear 'has retained the public service ethos of service to the community'. Its other nurseries run in partnership with the NHS include Mayday Hospital in Croydon, and the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. Buffer Bear is due to open several more nurseries for the NHS next year.
