Childcare reprieve

TRADIES has extended its offer to fund late-night care at Koala Childcare Centre at Sutherland Hospital until December.

The offer was made on Tuesday evening at a meeting between club chief executive Tim McAleer and centre director Fiona Black.

It follows ‘‘passionate’’ responses from club members to the Leader’s front page story on Tuesday (see below) about NSW Health’s decision to axe funding for late night care, a spokeswoman for the club said yesterday.  The local health district cut funding for evening childcare hours at the centre after it decided the hours were ‘‘under-utilised’’.

Evening places were also cut at Lorrikeet Childcare Centre at St George Hospital.

A spokeswoman for the local health district said while childcare centres were important, ‘‘it is not the core business of health’’.

Late-night care is accessed by frontline hospital workers including doctors, paramedics and nurses.

Registered nurse Nyree-Anne Hobson said on the Leader’s website she would not have been able to work when her children were young if not for the evening hours provided at Koala Childcare Centre.

‘‘This decision is outrageous and incredibly short-sighted, made by those who obviously have no idea how health care professionals need supporting after hours,’’ she wrote.

‘‘The evening care program was brilliantly run and catered to we who had no choice but to fill evening shifts.’’ 

A hospital worker whose child attends the centre during evenings said Tradies’ offer ‘‘enables us a bit of time to lobby against the cut’’.

‘‘This is the only childcare centre in the shire for evening/shift workers,’’ she said.

Mr McAleer said Tradies would work with the childcare centre to connect with local MPs to lobby NSW Health.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner is leaving the matter up to the local health district, and had no comment.

About $78,000 has been cut from the centre’s funds.

TUESDAY STORY:

KOALA Childcare Centre at Sutherland Hospital has been thrown a lifeline by Tradies after NSW Health axed funding for late-night care.

The club will now provide the necessary funding until the end of September. The centre's day care is unaffected.

The Koala centre provides late-night care for the children of doctors and nurses.

Club chief executive Tim McAleer said frontline staff who relied on it should not be "left out in the open".

"We're happy to shore things up in the short-term, and hopefully it will put pressure on the government to reinstate funding," he said.

The local health district cut funding for evening childcare hours at the centre after it decided the hours were "under-utilised".

Evening places were also cut at Lorikeet Childcare Centre at St George Hospital.

The director of the Koala Childcare Centre, Fiona Black, said five children were in evening care on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There were eight on Thursday evenings, and six on Fridays, although the numbers fluctuated.

She said the $78,000 hole left in the budget will force her to stop providing evening care for parents, who include a husband and wife who work as an ambulance driver and nurse.

Mrs Black learnt the funding was being cut only after she contacted the local health district's accounts department with a routine end-of-financial-year inquiry.

"If they had just given me more notice then I could have sat down and done some planning," she said.

"I'm just shocked that nobody would come and say, 'This is what's happening, can you do a six-month plan on how the centre can manage the changeover?''

The local health district provides the facility rent-free, but the funding cut will leave a $78,000 hole in the budget each year.

"This is a community-based centre and the majority of families are from the hospital," Mrs Black said.

A spokeswoman for the local health district said that while childcare centres were important, "it is not the core business of Health".

‘‘The understanding is that the centre is underutilised in the evening and as a result it was decided that funding provided by the local health district may be better utilised by being redirected to frontline clinical services,’’ the spokeswoman said.

Mrs Black said the centre had to limit the number of places offered in the evening because of government-mandated staff-to-child-ratios.

‘‘They don’t seem to value what we providing here and if that’s not what they value then there’s not a lot I can do,’’ she said.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner’s office was unable to meet the deadline for comment.

Mr McAleer was meeting Mrs Black today to discuss future needs of the centre.

 Do you agree with the funding cuts or use the either childcare centre?