NHS Trusts
If you're a childcare coordinator wanting to extend the
childcare services on offer to employees in your NHS trust, then
registered childminders can give you a widespread, cost-effective
solution.
Childminders can provide a truly flexible service for your
employees as, with agreement, they can offer care at unusual times,
even overnight placements in a homely environment: ideal for shift
workers such as nurses, doctors or support staff.
NCMA can help you develop a childminding network linked to your
trust or offer the services of a vacancy coordinator to help match
your staff with childminders.
Because childminders are self-employed you won't be employing
them directly and so there's no need for you to become involved in
the childcare arrangments. Even if you are paying for childcare on
behalf of parents, childminders can invoice you for their work and
so you won't have the increased administration and costs
associatied with National Insurance contributions, pensons and
payroll services that you may encounter when running an on-site
childcare service.
One other advantage is that, by working with local childminders,
you can increase the number of childcare places on offer without
the expense of funding a capital build project or finding extra
space on site.
Childminders will already exist in your area and, by linking to
existing childccare provision, you'll be helping to sustain local
businesses and provide your staff with childcare in their local
community, as well as close to the hospitals.
With childminders linked to your trust, you may also wish to
extend the service to patients. In many areas childminders work
with children's services to provide respite care or short-term
placements for children when their parents are unexpectedly unable
to care for them, for instance, if they need to go into
hospital.
To find out how NCMA can help provide access to childcare in
your community, contact NCMA.