Childcare: A cry for help

I am writing on behalf of members of staff at St Luke's Hospital who make use of the child nursery situated at the Child Development and Assessment Unit. This nursery has been open for the last 10 years and has been offering a sterling service. It is being strongly rumoured that this nursery is soon to be closed down once the migration to the new Mater Dei Hospital starts.

Furthermore, Mater Dei Hospital will not have a child nursery. The nursery is shown on the plans of the new hospital and even displayed prominently on the orientation tours organised for the staff. However, the space allotted for the nursery has now been allocated as office space.

It is simply inconceivable that, after all the boasting about such a state-of-the-art hospital, there are now not going to be any childcare facilities for the staff of the new hospital.

It was clearly stated by the Prime Minister in the last budget speech that the government aims to introduce measures to incentivise work. The government has also been striving for many years to encourage more women (mothers included) to join the labour force. How can mothers with young children of pre-school age even think of working if they are not offered childcare facilities?

Why are we being deprived of a service which has been offered for so many years and has found nothing but praise by all those who have made use of it? The nursery at St Luke's hospital is used by all staff, be they consultants, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists or cleaning staff. The parents simply drop off their children at the nursery in the morning and proceed straight to work. When they finish from their shift, they simply pick up their children and leave.

The situation at Mater Dei will change all this since the parents will have to settle their children somewhere else and this is going to create a lot of hassle and waste of time.

We are indeed surprised that the government is being so stingy with its staff after having spent over Lm200 million on this project. The millions spent on this project will certainly provide a better service to the public but in the end it is the staff who will make this project a real success.

The termination of childcare facilities will certainly create nothing but stress for the staff. We strongly appeal to the authorities concerned to reconsider the decision that has been taken.