Oral Answers to Questions

Gill Furniss Excerpts

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I could not agree more. We need GPs to understand that they must consider a patient’s needs as a whole, not just the condition that is presented at the time, and that message has been sitting behind the guidance that we have been issuing to GPs on how they manage patients with long-term health conditions.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of NHS bursaries on applications for nursing degrees.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

5. What assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of NHS bursaries on applications for nursing degrees.

[The Minister for Health (Stephen Barclay)]

Nursing remains a strong career choice, with more than 22,500 students placed during the 2017 UCAS application cycle. Demand for nursing places continues to outstrip the available training places.

[Gill Furniss]

Figures from the Royal College of Nursing show that applications have fallen by 33% since the withdrawal of bursaries. At the same time, the Government’s Brexit shambles has led to a drastic decline in EU nursing applications. How many years of such decline do we have to see before the Secretary of State and the Minister will intervene?

[Stephen Barclay]

What matters is not the number of rejected applicants, but the increase in places—the number of people actually training to be a nurse. The reality is that 5,000 more nurses will be training each year up to 2020 as a result of the changes.