Bursary campaigners meet with chief nurse

England’s chief nursing officer has met with nursing students to hear first hand their views on government proposals to scrap NHS bursaries.

Jane Cummings welcomed the five students to her office at NHS England for a meeting arranged by Unison’s head of nursing Gail Adams.

The group described how the proposals could particularly affect disabled students and those with families, as well as fears the government has failed to carry out a thorough assessment of its plans.

Student concerns

Among those to attend was King’s College London nursing student Danielle Tiplady, who has been campaigning against the proposals since they were revealed in November last year.

She said: ‘I told her about the impact on frontline services and shared anecdotes from students and nurses.

‘We need to sort out the problems in nursing, before we try to recruit any more, because they are causing the poor retention rates trusts are experiencing.’

Further information

DoH consultation on bursaries