Tops Day Nurseries director’s plea for testing of staff and priority vaccination status

Tops Day Nurseries director Cheryl Hadland made the heart-felt plea after prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that early years providers will be allowed to remain open during the lockdown.

With increasing rates of infections and staff having to isolate, Cheryl is concerned that many nurseries will not be able to remain open which will inevitably have ramifications for key worker parents and NHS staff fighting on the Covid frontline.

With an onsite nursery at Queen Alexandra Hospital as well as the nearby Lakeside in Cosham it’s a problem which could have dire consequences for Portsmouth.

Cheryl said: ‘It’s a nightmare situation. We want to deliver our service but we are not getting the support to do so. This morning I had to send home seven members of staff and a bubble of 15 children after one asymptomatic child tested positive. We look after 200 children for staff at QA and so it would obviously be really bad for the hospital if doctors and nurses could not go in as they didn’t have childcare.

‘I’ve already had to temporarily close one nursery which serves Poole Hospital.’

At the crux of Cheryl’s plea is parity with the support being offered to schools – particularly in light of schools now being closed.

She added: ‘Nursery staff have no free boxes of tests, nor can they wear masks like hospital staff - and they get paid a fraction of teachers and nurses’ wages because of gross government under-funding.’

The problem of staffing has been compounded by school closures with many nursery practitioners now faced with having to provide childcare for their own children.

The nursery leader is also appealing for staff to be considered for priority vaccinations.

Cheryl said: ‘If the government are going to prioritise nurseries remaining open then nursery staff should be considered for priority vaccinations. I don’t mean at the expense of the elderly or vulnerable but we should be considered alongside other frontline workers such as NHS staff – in some cases we are working on the same site.’

‘We are calling for these workers, who cannot socially distance from children, to be kept safe at work by being put on the vaccine priority list. Staff are being incredibly brave and the least we can do as a nation is support them effectively.’

SEE ALSO: Portsmouth nursery owners fear for future of early education providers after government goes back on furlough commitment

The nursery chain has written an open letter to hospitals and MPs and has called for funding to support the additional costs of Covid such as PPE provision and enhanced cleaning.

Responding to Cheryl’s concerns a DfE spokeswoman said: ‘Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff and there’s no evidence the new variant of coronavirus disproportionately affects young children. Keeping nurseries open will support parents and deliver crucial care and education for our youngest children.

‘We are funding nurseries as usual and all children are able to attend their early years setting in all parts of England. Where nurseries do see a drop in income from either parent-paid fees or income from the DfE, they are able to use the furlough scheme.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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