Student nurses call for paid contracts to be reinstated

Student nurses are calling for paid contracts to be reinstated for those on placement in hospitals in the UK.

In March, final-year student nurses in the last six months of their degree were offered the option to join the NHS workforce under paid contracts to hep with workforce shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Other final year students and those in second year could also opt in for paid clinical work.

Paid contracts finished in September as pressure on the health service eased, and, as of yet, there have been no plans to reintroduce them in any of the four nations of the UK.

However, as admissions to hospitals rise this winter, many student nurses are now being drafted in to help on coronavirus wards. In England and Scotland, their student status also means they are not automatically eligible for the death-in-service benefits that paid NHS staff receive.

Prof Geraldine Walters, the executive director of professional practice at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “Working together with our partners, our emergency standards were withdrawn at the end of September and replaced with our recovery standards. We are confident this will help enable universities to react flexibly where necessary to best support students in their learning, and to help students graduate when expected.”