Oral Answers to Questions

Grahame Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[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.

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

10. 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.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Barclay]

It is not a false economy to increase the supply of nurses, which is what the changes have done. Indeed, they form part of a wider package of measures, including “Agenda for Change”, pay rises and the return to practice scheme, which has seen 4,355 starters returning to the profession. More and more nurses are being trained, which is why we now have over 13,000 more nurses than in 2010.

[Grahame Morris]

I respectfully remind the Minister that this is about recruitment and retention. The RCN says that we can train a postgraduate nurse within 18 months, which is a significant untapped resource, so why are the Government planning to withdraw support from postgraduate nurses training, too?

[Stephen Barclay]

We have a debate involving postgraduate nursing tomorrow, but the intention is to increase the number of such nurses by removing the current cap, which means that many who want to apply for postgraduate courses cannot find the clinical places to do so. That is the nature of tomorrow’s debate, and I look forward to seeing the hon. Gentleman in the Chamber.