Khan calls on government to halt plans to remove healthcare bursaries

In a letter to the Department of Health, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for an ‘immediate halt’ to government plans to replace healthcare students bursaries with loans.

In the letter Khan warned that the move would hit nurse recruitment and healthcare services in the capital and that London ‘would be impacted heavily by the decision to end the bursary system’. His appeal comes after the London Assembly passed a motion calling on the Mayor to stop its plans which will see students having to take out loans to cover tuition fees and living costs.

The letter which is co-signed by London Assembly’s chair Tony Arbour and Dr Onkar Sahota, its health committee chair, said: “As a consequence, the removal of NHS bursaries may have a profound impact on the already startlingly high level of health inequalities in the capital and there will be a negative impact therefore on access to healthcare in London.”

The government claimed that the introduction of fees will provide 10,000 extra places on nursing, midwifery and allied health professional degrees by 2020 by allowing universities to respond to high demand for courses instead of being constrained by funding.

However the letter argued: “We believe that the decision to scrap bursaries is driven by a desire to save money in the short-term and that, over the long-term, costs will be higher for the NHS both financially and in terms of UK-trained workforce working in the NHS.

“We call on the government to put an immediate halt to the proposals to end NHS bursaries until a long-term and viable option has been identified which promotes the value of graduate and university degree educated professionals.”

Bernell Bussue, RCN London regional director, welcomed Khan’s support. He said: “We need to be increasing the numbers coming through the system, but two thirds of RCN members said they would not have studied nursing in the first place if they’d had to take out a full student loan and pay fees.

“It is great news the mayor is backing the RCN’s campaign to save the nursing bursary. Nursing students should be given every support through their training to make sure London’s health system has as many nurses as are needed in the years to come.”

Read more http://www.nursingtimes.net/news/education/london-mayor-calls-for-immedi...