‘The fight’s not over’ in campaign to save NHS bursaries

UNISON has not given up in its battle to save the NHS bursary, health delegates in Liverpool heard.
The government intends to remove the bursaries for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in England this autumn and replace them with tuition fees and loans.
But the proposal has already had a disastrous effect on nursing numbers.
Tomorrow, the House of Lords will discuss the 25% drop in nursing degree applications following the proposals. At the same time, Brexit has already reduced European Union migrant nursing and midwifery registrations by fall by more than 90%.
And UNISON’s health conference in Liverpool warned that cutting bursaries will discourage healthcare assistants from career progression, because of the fear of debt.
And this will “exacerbate the current recruitment crisis in the health and social care sector, putting safety at risk and weakening the diversity of the profession.”
Delegates in Liverpool heard experiences from both sides of the bursary divide.
Ishrt Raouf of the national Black members committee, a student nurse hoping to qualify as a mental health nurse, said she was “in a privileged position” as a direct entrant into a nursing degree, paid a band 2 salary by her employer.
But she was among fellow students for whom “bursaries made nursing accessible”.
Of those, “the majority are female, a good proportion are Black, many have children,” she pointed out. “And almost everyone has jobs outside university to suppleme...

Source: UNISON Health care news - April 25, 2017 Category: UK Health Authors: Demetrios Matheou Tags: Article News eu migrant health care conference 2017 NHS NHS bursary nurses overseas nurses save the NHS bursary student nurses Source Type: news