division_name: Opposition Day &#8212; NHS Bursaries
motion: <p class="indent" pid="b189.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House recognises the contribution of student nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and other healthcare staff; has serious concerns about the potential impact of removing NHS bursaries on the recruitment and retention of staff; and calls on the Government to drop their plans to remove NHS bursaries and instead to consult on how they can best fund and support the future healthcare workforce.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b190.3/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;good for students, good for patients and good for the NHS.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b190.3/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;serious issues in undersupply for years to come.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b191.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We were told that HEE&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b191.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;has acknowledged that, on the basis of workforce modelling alone, they would have liked to commission an additional 3,000 places in 2016-2017. Funding constraints meant that they had only commissioned an additional 331 places; one tenth of what was actually needed&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b191.3/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It seems self-evident to us that the reduction in the number of commissioned training places between 2010 and 2013 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, was a significant contributing factor towards the current national shortage of nurses.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b191.3/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Almost all of these issues relate to, and are caused by, a desire to save money. But this is a choice, not a fixed fact. The Government could invest more resource if it wanted to.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b192.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;deterring prospective students from entering the nursing profession&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b195.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students deserve the same opportunities as other students&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b196.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the huge debt that they could now face will act as a greater disincentive to go to university than it will for students from more affluent backgrounds&#8221;.&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2016-12-09">9 December</phrase> 2010; Vol. 520, c. 579.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b200.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We recognise that this has been a difficult decision for the government but are pleased that the government has found a way forward. Carefully implemented, this should allow universities in partnership with the NHS to increase the number of training places and also improve day to day financial support for students while they are studying. The plan means that students will have access to more day to day maintenance support through the loans system and recognises that these disciplines are higher cost, science-based subjects.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b200.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We support increasing health professional student numbers and will work with Government and the NHS to secure the sustainable funding system&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b205.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The last thing we need are disincentives to recruitment. We should be doing everything possible to attract applicants, as the country needs more nurses now than at any other time in its history.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b208.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Speaking as a nurse, I would struggle to undertake my nurse training given the proposed changes to the bursary scheme.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2016-01-05">5 January</phrase> 2016; Vol. 604, c. 15.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b209.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It is particularly worrying for mature students, many of whom have dependants, and it could deter them from joining the profession altogether. I can relate to this as three of my close colleagues are mature students and have stated on multiple occasions that, without the bursary, nursing school would not have been an option. Student nurses are not like other students: 50% of their time is spent on unpaid clinical placements in hospitals and in the community and there are simply not the same opportunities for part-time work as other students. I could not have completed this course without the bursary. Studying nursing requires participation in extra-curricular activities. This is in line with a recent national initiative: revalidation&#8230;Therefore, finding time for part-time work becomes very difficult, and many of my friends have been turned away from part-time jobs as our weekly schedules, working shifts and time for completing university work are often sporadic. The bursary covers my rent and without that I would not be able to support myself and nor would my family.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b220.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I&#8217;m a first year student nurse and when I start placement (for 3 months), I will just about be able to cover my travel on top of my rent and food. When you see the hours we have to complete and having a fraction of the summer holidays other students get, you have to understand why the proposed cuts to the bursary and overall funding to the NHS isn&#8217;t beneficial.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b220.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">I appreciate that to other students, getting a monthly bursary must seem like a luxury, however every penny I get goes towards my rent&#8212;it&#8217;s not just pocket money.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b220.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">We&#8217;re seeing reports that parents are already telling their children not to go into the nursing profession and future nurses are being scared out of applying for university. This is deeply saddening; it&#8217;s such a wonderful course to be a part of and our nurses are absolutely vital in the care of society&#8217;s health and the maintenance of OUR NHS.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b220.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">If the bursary is scrapped, a lot of student nurses will end up working 70 plus hours a week (placement, study time, job/s). Is a student nurse working that many hours a week safe patient care?&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b220.1/15" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the removal of the incentive of the bursary could have an unsettling effect on the number and quality of applications for nursing training places in the early years.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b223.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the removal of the incentive of the bursary could have an unsettling effect on the number and quality of applications for nursing training places in the early years. In addition, the reduction of net pay in the early years, as nurses repay their loans, will make the employment package and medium to long term reward offer an important factor in attracting high calibre students who are choosing between courses and career options.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b225.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;current funding system is no longer working for either students or universities.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b227.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The cuts are likely to deter many potential students from entering the profession which is not good news for the future of midwifery in the UK...The axing of student bursaries will inevitably make midwifery an unattainable and less attractive profession to thousands of potentially excellent midwives that our maternity services so badly need.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b228.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;student nurses aren&#8217;t like other students. 50 per cent of their time is spent in clinical practice working directly with patients and their families and they have a longer academic year.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b230.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Women with children and those who already have a first degree will be particularly hit hard&#8230;many of these women already make up a large proportion of our current midwifery student base.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b230.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I would not have survived without my bursary. The nurse&#8217;s salary is poor and to have debt on top is terrible.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b230.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I am an adult learner with a husband and two children. I had my children young so was unable to fulfil a degree at the usual time&#8230; If I was to have a mountain of debt at the end it would not have been worth my while! I fear it will put off adult learners entering into the degree programme, which will mean the NHS losing out on valuable, decent people who would make fantastic nurses!&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b230.0/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;By stopping the bursary we are in danger of preventing mature students from entering training as those who already have financial commitments will struggle. This will mean that the NHS loses the chance of recruiting a great resource of potential nurses.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b230.0/13" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I am really disappointed by this change, and nursing is not like any other profession so should be treated uniquely. It is really tough being a nursing student and I think that the proposed bursary changes should be considered carefully to respect the work, commitment and enthusiasm of student nurses.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b231.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;precise impact is difficult to estimate with certainty&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b231.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there may be some uncertainty over applications in the very short term&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b231.0/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;is no robust set of information to make this assessment.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b231.0/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there is a risk of people being put off from applying to nursing degrees, because of concerns over debt.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b231.0/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There is a worrying lack of assessment of the potential for the changes to act as a disincentive for some students, such as mature students or those from lower income backgrounds.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b233.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The Department does not hold information on the number of nurses who qualified in the last five years&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b233.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There has been consultation with leading nursing professionals.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2016-01-11">11 January</phrase> 2016; Vol. 604, c. 237WH.]</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="b238.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="b238.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 158, Noes 277.</p>