NHS Bursary
Debate between Stephen Pound and Maria Caulfield(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Maria Caulfield
I will not, if the hon. Lady does not mind, just because I know that so many Members want to speak.
Although not all of those 37,000 will have been rejected because of a lack of places, a significant number of them will. The current system restricts the number of student nurses that enter the profession so, in theory, the changes should increase the numbers of qualified nurses in a few years’ time. From my clinical practice I know, however, that what works in theory will have the opposite effect in reality.
My main concerns about moving from a bursary scheme to a student loan scheme are, first, that many nurses go into a degree system simply because there is no other way to become a nurse. They do not necessarily want a degree in nursing; they want to be a qualified registered nurse. If we commit to a student loan scheme, we are committing them to take on debt for years to come. As we have heard, many of them—more than 30%—are mature students, and by mature students we do not mean people in their 40s and 50s. They are people in their mid-20s and early-30s. They have young families; they are single mums; and they have a first degree and have to take on a second one just to become a nurse. It is a crazy situation. For someone who already has a student loan, and/or a mortgage and/or childcare to pay for, the thought of taking on more debt will definitely put them off entering nursing, and to say otherwise is madness.
The difference between student nurses and other undergraduates is that the starting salary for a nurse is £21,000. Most nurses will only ever be a band 5 or 6, and the maximum they can earn as a band 6 is £34,000—that is if they do not have a break to have children or go part time for some other reason. They will never be in a position fully to pay off their student loan. Student nurses are different, therefore, from other undergraduates, and that has not been recognised in the debate. An issue in the wider debate about graduates is that a graduate is, on average, £100,000 better off than a non-graduate, but that is not the case with nurses. Other graduates earn, on average, more than £40,000 a year, but nurses do not earn anything like that and that difference needs to be recognised when decisions are made.
We have heard how much time student nurses spend on clinical placements—more than 50% of their course, including nights, weekends and evenings—which makes it almost impossible for them to get any other income from part-time work. We must recognise that. Being dependent on a loan is not a great way of life either, but other students are able to supplement their loans by working in pubs and shops, and doing other evening work. Student nurses are not in a position to do that.
My second concern is that, if I am completely wrong and we suddenly have a huge increase in the number of student nurses, the placements will not be able to cope. To qualify as a student nurse, not only does someone have to pass their exams and essays and do the required hours, they also have to be clinically assessed by a registered nurse—not just any old registered nurse, but someone who has done their mentoring and assessing course. I know that there are student nurses now who struggle to find placements because there are not enough qualified nurses able to assess them. That needs to be taken into account as well. It is not just about increasing the numbers; it is about having the support services in place.
When I met the Minister, I was hugely reassured by what he said about other schemes that are being proposed. My plea is that he outlines those schemes so that student nurses are reassured that, in order to qualify, they will be able to use schemes other than the student loan system. Routes such as nursing associates and nursing apprenticeships are being proposed. I am probably getting a little old now—
Maria Caulfield
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Those routes sounds like the state-enrolled nurse or state-registered nurse route again, and they worked pretty well in years gone by.