Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to recruit student nurses, who are already trained to administer vaccines, as part of the covid-19 vaccination programme; and whether that recruitment would contribute towards their university course placement hours.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council re-introduced emergency standards that enable final year nursing students to undertake up to 100% of their time in clinical practice. Final year nursing students are able to choose whether or not to move into clinical placements which count towards their learning outcomes. Approved education institutions retain oversight of the students and where they are placed, which could include working on the COVID-19 vaccination programme.