The Sunshine and Carousel Nurseries, at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop, Nottingham, and Doncaster Royal Infirmary in South Yorkshire, are expected to shut next year.
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says the full cost of running the nurseries this year will be £336,000 higher than the income received from them, and it is no longer viable to subsidise each nursery place by more than £4,000 per year. The nurseries together provide more than 100 places for children of hospital staff and the wider community.
Peter Reading, interim chief executive of the Trust, said, 'This is a decision that the Board has taken with a heavy heart and after extremely careful thought.
'We delayed making a decision to allow adequate time to consider the views of parents and staff, as well as to give us time to explore every avenue for reducing the overspend on the nurseries to a level that might be affordable and sustainable.'
He said the Trust had considered several options to save the nurseries, including capping the amount it spends on the settings to £80,000 a year, making a saving of £170,000. However, this would mean increasing fees and occupancy and making staff cutbacks. Another idea was to look at selling the settings to a private company, but this was thought impractical because of the nurseries' financial situation.
The Trust has not confirmed an exact date when the nurseries will close but has said it will help parents find alternative childcare. A statutory period of consultation with the 38 members of staff from both nurseries will also be held.