Parents have been left high and dry after Mater Dei Hospital management decided to close down the childcare centre without advanced notice.
The parents received calls last Friday asking them to find an alternative childcare centre because the decision had been taken to shut down the centre at the hospital for good as from today.
Sources said the childcare centre was closed as a money-saving measure since not many Mater Dei employees were making use of the service.
Several parents told Times of Malta they were told that, as a temporary arrangement, they would be allowed to telework this week until they make alternative arrangements.
“I do not have any relatives to help me, so I have nowhere to take the children. I called a few childcare centres in the vicinity of where I live but they told me that, before next year, they do not have space for my child,” one parent said when contacted.
Another parent, who similarly did not have a quick-fix solution to the problem, said he too could not find an alternative childcare centre that had a slot for his son.
The matter was reported to the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, which immediately wrote to Health Minister Chris Fearne to protest the sudden closure of the childcare centre, describing it as “irrational”.
“Members of MUMN who provide a sterling service to our patients are angry and anxious on how such an abrupt decision was taken without any consideration of the effects on their jobs and their children,” MUMN president Paul Pace told the minister.
Describing the offer of a week of teleworking as “stupid”, the union demanded that workers are allowed to do so indefinitely until a childcare centre is available to accept their children.
It also demanded a guarantee that its members will not see a reduction in their take-home pay until they are able to return to work after finding an alternative childcare centre.
The union also expressed concern that not all childcare centres would be able to offer services at times when their members are working in hospital.
“Such decision to close the childcare centre at MDH should have never been taken or, if it had to be taken, the parents should have been warned at least six months in advance since availability in a childcare centre takes months,” he added.
A spokesperson for the health ministry said when contacted the decision to close the childcare centre was taken by the hospital administration and that the ministry was looking into the matter.