Bunnyhops, the staff nursery at Prestwich Hospital, has been going for more than 30 years, but Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health Trust is discussing plans to close it at the end of August to cut rising costs.
Stuart Carter, a spokesman for Unison, said, 'Plans to close the nursery have been made purely for financial reasons, although the Trust said that it is because they do not have the expertise to run the nursery. As a result of Agenda for Change, nursery nurses received a substantial pay increase when their jobs were re-evaluated. This made running the nursery more expensive.'
A Trust spokesperson said, 'We are considering a range of options, including the possibility of a private provider taking over.'
Local private chain Holyrood Nurseries was thought to be interested in running the nursery. John Hoban, Holyrood's joint proprietor, said 'Everyone is doing everything they can to keep Bunnyhops open, but at the moment it is not financially viable. We are in talks with the Trust about moving the nursery forward, but we are still in the very early stages.'