Nursing students at debate told 'there's not enough information' about bursary scrap plan

A panel of health experts has urged the Department of Health to release more information on its bid to scrap the NHS bursary.

Although the DH is due to launch a consultation on the proposed £9,000 a year course fees within weeks, nursing students have voiced frustration about delays and lack of clarity on the plans.

Around 200 people attended a Question Time-style event at King’s College London on Tuesday (March 15), set up by its Nightingale Student Council to discuss bursary changes.

Plans to scrap the bursary were first announced by chancellor George Osborne in November. The delay for further information was heavily criticised by the panel and audience. There was a consensus that the government should have done more to engage with stakeholders prior to Mr Osborne’s announcement.

The panellists, made up of people for and against the plans, said there were gaps in existing government information.

Former RCN general secretary Peter Carter, who remains undecided about the changes, told the audience the government’s failure to engage with people is the root cause of the frustration. He urged the government to ‘get all the relevant policies together, sit down with everyone and come up with a better narrative’.

NHS England deputy chief nurse Bronagh Scott, who supports the changes, agreed there had been ‘not enough information, not enough narrative and not enough talking to people’.

King’s College’s professor of nursing research Jill Maben, who attended recent protest events organised by nursing students and is opposed to the changes, urged students to be ‘succinct and dispassionate’ when responding to the consultation.