The article discusses proposed changes to the way British nursing student education is funded. The British Department of Health (DH) plans to use a system that combines a bursary and a loan. A consultation will examine the proposed changes during the summer of 2009 and will also consider other options including a minimum wage salary for nursing students. Chris Caldwell, a member of DH, explains the process.
NEWS
Student loans could be part of
new financial support package
Exclusive byTamsin Snow
The non-means tested bursary for
nursing students looks set to be
scrapped as part of an overhaul of the
way students are supported during
their courses.
Nursing Standard understands
that the Department of Health (DH)
wants to introduce a new system in
England that will combine a bursary
with a student loan. It is not yet clear
whether the bursary will be means
tested or how much it will be worth.
The changes will be the subject of a
consultation exercise this summer
before being introduced next year.
Views will also be sought on five
other options. One is thought to be a
’salary’ for nursing students in line
with the minimum wage.
A government-led group is
currently reviewing the existing
system. Ministers are thought to be in
favour of a mix of bursaries and loans.
Group member Chris Caldwell,
lead for the DH’s Modernising
Nursing Careers programme, told
Nursing Standard that
recommendations will go to health
secretary Alan Johnson shortly.
A long list of options for student
support had been discussed and
whittled down, Ms Caldwell said.
‘A final decision will be made in
spring 2010, so that if we have a
combination of bursary and loans for
all nursing students, there is time to
get that in place before the change to
In Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland, degree students receive
non-means tested bursaries.
Speaking at RCN congress this
month, prime minister Gordon
Brown said student funding had to
change but suggested the
government could not afford to take
degree-only education.’ the full brunt of the costs. He said
Gordon Browti told RCN congress that student
funding has to be a partnership between
students, their families and the governtnent
Acknowledging that any moves to
reduce the non-means tested bursary
would be unpopular, she added:
‘We need to make sure that, whatever
the outcome, we are still able to
recruit students to courses.’
Funding overhaul
In England, non-means tested
bursaries of about £6,300 are
available to diploma students only.
Bursaries for those on degree level
courses are means-tested. However,
nursing is expected to become all
graduate entry in 2011 or 2012,
intensifying the need for an overhaul
of the funding scheme.
funding had to be a partnership
between the student, their family
and the government.
Conservative Party leader
David Cameron told congress that
although there is a sense of
‘unfairness’ for those with a
means-tested bursary there is not an
easy solution to the problem.
RCN student adviser Gill
Robertson said: ‘We would like to
ensure nursing students have enough
money to start and finish their
education, but in reality that may be
difficult to achieve.’
Unison’s policy is for nursing
students to receive a salary.
Alcohol services benefit from nurse intervention
The RCN has released clear evidence
of a demand for specialist alcohol
nursing services and interventions
across the UK.
During the period March 2007 to
April 2008 the college supported a
project to look at services in Edinburgh,
Liverpool, Belfast, London and Cardiff.
A report published in this week’s
Nursing Standard reveals that in
Liverpool around 96 per cent of
patients receiving treatment for alcohol
misuse said they had benefited from
nurse intervention.
Meanwhile, an NHS report Síoí/sí/cs
on Alcohol: England 2009 found that
a quarter of all adults in England
are classed as hazardous drinkers.
Rod Thomson, consultant
in public health at NHS Sefton
in Merseyside said: ‘Levels
of harmful use of
alcohol in the UK are
significant Alcohol
liaison nurses, A&E
nurses and primary
care nurses are all well
placed to provide
quality interventions.’
See art & science page 35
NURSING STANDARD may 27:: vol 23 no 38:: 2009 U
