04.05.16
Scrapping student bursaries a ‘cynical cost cutting exercise’ – Unite
Unite is urging the government to cancel controversial plans to replace bursaries for student nurses, midwives and speech and language therapists with tuition fees.
The union said that rather than reducing the NHS’s dependency on agency staff as the government has promised, the prospect of debt will deter applicants, especially mature students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and make staff shortages worse.
Unite will join the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Nursing, National Union of Students, British Dental Association and Unison in a mass lobby of Parliament on 25 May over the issue.
Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, Unite’s national officer for health, said: “This is a cynical cost cutting exercise that will leave the NHS ever more reliant on costly agency staff.
“The government needs to listen to widespread concerns and ditch this policy now. Unite members will be lobbying parliament on 25 May with health students and our sister unions.”
MPs debated nursing bursaries today.
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