A healthy approach

Two casualties of the old NHS are ironically now assisting hospitals in their quest to recruit and retain staff by establishing on-site nursery provision. Ex-nursing sisters Barbara Baker and Catherine Griffin felt forced to leave their profession when they started families because there was no childcare to cover their working hours. Twelve years on and they have used their knowledge to build up a chain of nurseries primarily providing childcare for NHS hospitals. By next year TLC will have contracts with 11 NHS trusts and it is thought it will then be the largest provider of hospital childcare.

'I'd worked in South Africa and every hospital over there had a creche, but at that time the NHS was not a family-orientated employer so we approached Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry about providing childcare. We were invited to talk about it and we ended up doing it ourselves,' explains Ms Baker, TLC managing director. 'That was 12 years ago and our original nursery is still operating. So the business all happened by default and we are effectively two casualties of the NHS.