Protest cuts to nurses’ bursaries
Why should anyone pay to work?
In November the chancellor, George Osborne, announced the government are going to cut NHS bursaries for student nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiotherapists, radiographers, dieticians, operating department practitioners, podiatrists, speech and language therapists and – potentially – paramedics.
A bursary is a grant, awarded to someone to enable them to study at university or college.
But, as of 2017, in order to study these professions students will have to take out a hefty loan of over £50,000. Even though nurses spend 50 per cent of their training time working for the NHS on clinical placements.
This money will then be paid back from a salary which is capped at a 1 per cent rise. That is not in line with the hike in national living costs.
But student nurses, midwives and the allied health professions (AHPs) actually work real hours in real hospitals and directly contribute to patient care, are at the front line of the NHS, and earn – and deserve – that bursary.
To take the bursary away is ludicrous.
Why would students pay to work?
The cuts to the bursary will deter – and indeed prevent – people from training, so who will be looking after our society in the future?
Who will be that person there holding the patient’s hand as they receive bad news?
Who will be working alongside their mentor who is a radiotherapist helping to deliver lifesaving cancer treatment?
Where will the physiotherapist be who helps the patient who fell at home and broke their hip to be able to walk again?
Who will help deliver a baby when the student midwife cannot afford to do the degree?
The NHS bursary should be seen not as a cost but an investment in the future health and wellbeing of our society and our NHS. It affects each and every one of us and together we must unite to fight to save it.
So on 9 January NHS students will be marching against these cuts.
Through London.
Please do join in.
In the meantime:
Tell EVERYONE you know about the NHS bursary cuts, share the impact and bring them along on this march.
It is vital we reach as many people as possible – the postman, the shopkeeper, the junior doctor who lives down the road, your teacher, your mum, your dad, SPREAD THE WORD!
Lobby your MP. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison have links for templates you can use.
You can also pop along to your local MP’s surgery to meet them!
And join the Twitter Storm #BursaryOrBust on 28 December 2015 from 5-7pm.
Thanks.
This is absolutely disgraceful that means a lot of people will not want to become nurses as they will be scared of by the debt