Let’s Go Family Daycare supports East Grampians Health staff

Regional communities across the country face ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining allied health staff, in part because of the issues associated with obtaining early childhood education and care (ECEC) in hours which suit their varied hours. 

To support its employees the East Grampians Health Service recently undertook a project which is designed to offer short-term and short notice care options which would allow its staff to respond to last minute shift changes and other emergency situations.

The solution is the Let’s Go Family Daycare, located at 77 Queen Street, near the health service. 

“It’s come about because of the need for short notice childcare for East Grampians Health Service wanting to get staff into shifts, and we had information that staff wanted to do more work but were short on childcare options,” Development and improvement director Mario Santilli explained to local news source The Weekly Advertiser.

Since Let’s Go opened the health service has become more confident that staff will be able to accept shifts at short notice to cover sick leave and other shifts that became available.

“If there’s a shortage on a roster, say for a couple of weeks, we can ask somebody to fill that gap,” he said.

The solution is not intended to take the place of long term early childhood education and care (ECEC) for staff, but rather to ‘stand in the gap’ when required at short notice.

“It makes it easier for everybody, and what it means is we don’t have to get so many agency nurses, which costs the organisation a lot of money,” he said.

The hospital has underwritten the service to ensure that it can remain open regardless of utilsation levels, so that places are there when they are needed. 

“We’ve committed to underwriting positions to keep the centre open, even if there’s only one or two kids here, we’ll pay for the extra places until they get filled,” Mr Santilli said.

Read the local coverage of this story here.