NOVANEWS
Exclusive: Student nurses and midwives could be forced to pay their tuition fees under new Treasury plans
Nurses from Great Ormond Street Hospital danced for the world at the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games Photo: Getty
By Laura Donnelly
Student nurses and midwives could be forced to pay their tuition fees and living costs under new proposals being considered by the Treasury.
Shortages of nurses in the NHS have left hospitals paying up to £2,200 per shift for locum staff, with thousands more being recruited from abroad.
But most of those applying to train as a nurse are turned away, with three times as many applicants as funded places, figures show.
The Councils of Deans of Health and Universities UK have submitted plans to the government’s spending review, due to be published next month,proposing to axe the system of free education.
The plans would see the introduction of tuition fees and the scrapping of bursaries which cover students’ living costs, to be replaced by loans.
The organisations say the current system means the number of places is limited by what the NHS can afford – leading to shortages.
But nursing and midwifery unions last night raised fears that charging for the courses would mean many more potential entrants would be deterred.
Tom Sandford, director of nursing at the Royal College of Nursing raised concerns that such changes could put potential nurses off entering training, deterred by the prospect of large debts, and a low starting salary.
“Financial hardship is the top reason nursing students drop out, and the full time demands of the course make it very difficult for nursing students to earn extra money while they are training,” he said.
The Royal College of Midwives said the plans risked worsening a shortage of 2,600 midwives.
“Financial hardship is the top reason nursing students drop out, and the full time demands of the course make it very difficult for nursing students to earn extra money while they are training.”
Tom Sandford, director of nursing at the Royal College of Nursing
“Future midwives could be burdened with debt and put off pursuing a career in midwifery,” a spokesman said.
The proposals do not suggest a specific level for the loans.
A survey of 351 trainee nurses found that those who were required to show more compassion every day were significantly more likely to suffer stress outside of working hours Photo: REX FEATURES (POSED BY MODELS)
But nurses currently receive a means-tested bursary of up to £5,460 a year to cover living costs, while other students are eligible for loans of up to £7,750.
Tuition fees for other health professions, such as dentists, pharmacists and doctors, cost up to £9,000 a year.
The current proposals, seen by Health Service Journal magazine, could bring the end of free education for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists.
Dame Jessica Corner, chairman of the Council of Deans of Health, said the organisation had asked the government to make changes to the existing system, which she said was “fragile and vulnerable” to service pressures.
Photo: ALAMY
She said: “It has been a fact over decades that every time there are funding pressures in the NHS that is passed directly on to the numbers of nurses and health professionals that are trained.”
She said the NHS could consider paying back the loan of nurses who commit to work for the health service for a set period of time after completing training.
Dame Jessica said replacing the bursary system – which pays nurses towards living costs – could reduce their level of hardship, as they could borrow more than they are currently paid by bursary.
“The NHS faces severe domestic skills shortages in a number of professions, and the existing grants based system is unable to meet the costs of increasing student numbers to meet national need.”
Universities UK
In its submission to the spending review, Universities UK said: “The NHS faces severe domestic skills shortages in a number of professions, and the existing grants based system is unable to meet the costs of increasing student numbers to meet national need. The proposed change would allow for a sustainable increase in student numbers.”
Last year, 57,000 applicants tried to train as a nurse in England, but just 20,000 places were funded.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign nurses registering to work in Britain rose by one third, as hospitals attempted to increase staff numbers in the wake of the Mid Staffs scandal.
A spokesman for the Treasury declined to comment ahead of the spending review.