Nurses: Recruitment Debate
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Lord Singh of Wimbledon
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Nurses: Recruitment
Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB) [V]
My Lords, the Covid pandemic has underlined the vital role of nurses in the health system. Bearing in mind that nursing students do unpaid work while learning, does the Minister agree that the £5,000 bursary is not enough to meet the fees and living costs of those whom the Government are trying to attract?
Lord Bethell [V]
The noble Lord is entirely right that the role of nurses in the healthcare system has been extremely well exemplified by the response to Covid. The £5,000 bursary was agreed in collaboration with, and with the input of, the Royal College of Nursing. There is of course other support that students can already access through the student loans system and the existing learning support fund, and that goes a long way towards paying for childcare, travel and other costs in cases of exceptional hardship.