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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/01/my-bursary-was-essential-readers-on-ending-healthcare-training-bursaries
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| 'My bursary was essential': readers on ending healthcare training bursaries | 'My bursary was essential': readers on ending healthcare training bursaries |
| (5 days later) | |
| From Tuesday, anyone who wants to train to become a midwife, a nurse, or to go into other allied healthcare professions like speech or physiotherapy in England will have to start paying tuition fees, and will no longer have access to an NHS bursary to cover their living costs. | From Tuesday, anyone who wants to train to become a midwife, a nurse, or to go into other allied healthcare professions like speech or physiotherapy in England will have to start paying tuition fees, and will no longer have access to an NHS bursary to cover their living costs. |
| The department of health says replacing the bursaries with student loans will free up about £800m a year to create additional nursing roles by 2020, but the NHS is already struggling to fill 40,000 vacant nursing posts. | The department of health says replacing the bursaries with student loans will free up about £800m a year to create additional nursing roles by 2020, but the NHS is already struggling to fill 40,000 vacant nursing posts. |
| We asked readers whether they would still train to go into these professions today without financial aid. Here’s what they said. | We asked readers whether they would still train to go into these professions today without financial aid. Here’s what they said. |
| ‘I take a home about £12.50 an hour – getting into £50,000 of debt for that is a joke’ – palliative care nurse from the north west | ‘I take a home about £12.50 an hour – getting into £50,000 of debt for that is a joke’ – palliative care nurse from the north west |
| I qualified in my thirties with a young family. I was lucky my husband was in work at the time and that I got an extra allowance as I had young kids. There is no way I would have been able to do nursing without the bursary – today I would just become a health care assistant instead. Even as a nurse now for many years my wage combined with my husband’s barely covers essentials. What a joke that I would consider getting into £50,0000 of debt for a job with huge responsibilities, loads of stress and terrible hours. I take home £12.50 an hour. | I qualified in my thirties with a young family. I was lucky my husband was in work at the time and that I got an extra allowance as I had young kids. There is no way I would have been able to do nursing without the bursary – today I would just become a health care assistant instead. Even as a nurse now for many years my wage combined with my husband’s barely covers essentials. What a joke that I would consider getting into £50,0000 of debt for a job with huge responsibilities, loads of stress and terrible hours. I take home £12.50 an hour. |
| ‘My bursary was essential - I am the first to go to university in my family’ - midwifery student from London | ‘My bursary was essential - I am the first to go to university in my family’ - midwifery student from London |
| I will qualify as a registered midwife in September. I am on clinical placements at least 37.5 hours a week, alongside studying full time for a Bachelor of Science degree. How could I find a part-time job that would fit alongside this? Especially as I often have to work night shifts and weekends. Huge responsibilities also come with this course - we are each expected to deliver at least 40 babies across the three year programme. | I will qualify as a registered midwife in September. I am on clinical placements at least 37.5 hours a week, alongside studying full time for a Bachelor of Science degree. How could I find a part-time job that would fit alongside this? Especially as I often have to work night shifts and weekends. Huge responsibilities also come with this course - we are each expected to deliver at least 40 babies across the three year programme. |
| I received a full NHS bursary, £450 a month, for three years. It was essential for allowing me to afford the cost of living in London, especially since I come from a working-class family and am the first in the family to go to university. Even with the bursary, my colleagues and I still experienced financial hardship. Choosing to undertake the course without the bursary would have been a difficult decision to make. | I received a full NHS bursary, £450 a month, for three years. It was essential for allowing me to afford the cost of living in London, especially since I come from a working-class family and am the first in the family to go to university. Even with the bursary, my colleagues and I still experienced financial hardship. Choosing to undertake the course without the bursary would have been a difficult decision to make. |
| ‘18-year-olds are not deterred but everyone else is’ - university nursing admissions tutor | ‘18-year-olds are not deterred but everyone else is’ - university nursing admissions tutor |
| The removal of the NHS bursary will definitely have a big effect on recruiting. Adult branch nursing will be well under recruitment targets. Applications for child nursing and midwifery are down but ok. Big difference here is we have more 18-year-olds applying - they have to take a loan no matter what they study at uni, so are not deterred. The worst reduction in applications is from mature applicants already working as NHS care assistants. | The removal of the NHS bursary will definitely have a big effect on recruiting. Adult branch nursing will be well under recruitment targets. Applications for child nursing and midwifery are down but ok. Big difference here is we have more 18-year-olds applying - they have to take a loan no matter what they study at uni, so are not deterred. The worst reduction in applications is from mature applicants already working as NHS care assistants. |
| If students are going to have to take out loans, the NHS should pay them back when they start working for them - it would mean they don’t have to pay upfront for people who drop out, but also not deter applicants worried about debt. This issue is not just about loans or bursaries though – the NHS should also bring back secondments - health care assistants used to be able to carry on working for NHS with a full time wage while studying at university. | If students are going to have to take out loans, the NHS should pay them back when they start working for them - it would mean they don’t have to pay upfront for people who drop out, but also not deter applicants worried about debt. This issue is not just about loans or bursaries though – the NHS should also bring back secondments - health care assistants used to be able to carry on working for NHS with a full time wage while studying at university. |
| ‘Is the sacrifice worth it?’ – occupational therapy student from London | ‘Is the sacrifice worth it?’ – occupational therapy student from London |
| I’m from the last cohort to receive a bursary and I’m training to help stroke and dementia patients return to independent living. I previously worked in a well paid job in corporate communications and without an NHS bursary I would have never been able to make a career change. I’m still paying off the debt from my first undergraduate degree and I have used my savings to fund most of my accommodation and living costs as the bursary isn’t sufficient to live on alone. | I’m from the last cohort to receive a bursary and I’m training to help stroke and dementia patients return to independent living. I previously worked in a well paid job in corporate communications and without an NHS bursary I would have never been able to make a career change. I’m still paying off the debt from my first undergraduate degree and I have used my savings to fund most of my accommodation and living costs as the bursary isn’t sufficient to live on alone. |
| I changed career because I wanted to work in a field where I felt I was making a positive impact on a personal life but it is concerning hearing about the stress, hours, pay freezes and cuts going on in the NHS. It makes you wonder as a career changer whether the sacrifice is worth it. | I changed career because I wanted to work in a field where I felt I was making a positive impact on a personal life but it is concerning hearing about the stress, hours, pay freezes and cuts going on in the NHS. It makes you wonder as a career changer whether the sacrifice is worth it. |
| ‘Nursing students will be subsidising the NHS by working for free’ – substance misuse specialist | ‘Nursing students will be subsidising the NHS by working for free’ – substance misuse specialist |
| I love my work, it’s always challenging and different every day. I trained as a mature student when my children were at school. The bursary allowed me to pay for after school childcare and I would not have been able to do it without that funding. I think the removal of the bursary will have a particularly negative impact on mental health and learning disability nursing, which tend to be more appealing to older students with some life experience rather than school leavers. It is hard enough to study at university with children but being unable to afford childcare is likely to make it impossible for many. It certainly would have prevented me from training. | I love my work, it’s always challenging and different every day. I trained as a mature student when my children were at school. The bursary allowed me to pay for after school childcare and I would not have been able to do it without that funding. I think the removal of the bursary will have a particularly negative impact on mental health and learning disability nursing, which tend to be more appealing to older students with some life experience rather than school leavers. It is hard enough to study at university with children but being unable to afford childcare is likely to make it impossible for many. It certainly would have prevented me from training. |
| Nursing students are are now going to be expected to in effect “subsidise” the NHS by working for free whilst accruing debt that their potential wages mean that they will be unable to ever pay off. I have not had a pay rise for years but am expected to keep expanding my role to make up the shortfall in junior doctors hours. | Nursing students are are now going to be expected to in effect “subsidise” the NHS by working for free whilst accruing debt that their potential wages mean that they will be unable to ever pay off. I have not had a pay rise for years but am expected to keep expanding my role to make up the shortfall in junior doctors hours. |
| ‘I would not encourage anyone to enter nursing today’ – health visitor from the north west | ‘I would not encourage anyone to enter nursing today’ – health visitor from the north west |
| I started working in the NHS in 1972 as a cadet nurse at the age of 16 and went on to train as a midwife, health visitor and also lectured at a university for a while. I returned to my current job following David Cameron’s call for people to return to the profession. My current role has changed significantly though since I first qualified in the 1980s. Health visiting was originally about primary health from ‘cradle to grave’ but now it is about ensuring targets are met and my role is almost synonymous with being a social worker. I would certainly not enter the profession under the terms that students face today. Nor would I encourage anyone to do so. The university programmes are woefully inadequate for preparing students for when they qualify, hence the high drop out rate of newly qualified staff. The removal of the bursary will decimate the profession. | I started working in the NHS in 1972 as a cadet nurse at the age of 16 and went on to train as a midwife, health visitor and also lectured at a university for a while. I returned to my current job following David Cameron’s call for people to return to the profession. My current role has changed significantly though since I first qualified in the 1980s. Health visiting was originally about primary health from ‘cradle to grave’ but now it is about ensuring targets are met and my role is almost synonymous with being a social worker. I would certainly not enter the profession under the terms that students face today. Nor would I encourage anyone to do so. The university programmes are woefully inadequate for preparing students for when they qualify, hence the high drop out rate of newly qualified staff. The removal of the bursary will decimate the profession. |
| ‘I am worried it will deter men from applying’ - student mental health nurse from Preston | ‘I am worried it will deter men from applying’ - student mental health nurse from Preston |
| I left a long career in engineering to go into mental health as it was always close to my heart for personal reasons. As a mature student, I had the financial obligations of a mortgage, a wife to support and a car to run. University life is challenging as we are either in class four to five days a week or doing placements full time. Placements are effectively working for the NHS full time for free. You often have to travel 30 or more miles each way and shifts usually start before 7am and last 12 or 13 hours. The bursary I currently get is £300 per month which barely covers my living expenses. I have to work as a health care support worker to top it up in what spare time I have. But at least when I qualify next year I will not have any debt hanging over me. | I left a long career in engineering to go into mental health as it was always close to my heart for personal reasons. As a mature student, I had the financial obligations of a mortgage, a wife to support and a car to run. University life is challenging as we are either in class four to five days a week or doing placements full time. Placements are effectively working for the NHS full time for free. You often have to travel 30 or more miles each way and shifts usually start before 7am and last 12 or 13 hours. The bursary I currently get is £300 per month which barely covers my living expenses. I have to work as a health care support worker to top it up in what spare time I have. But at least when I qualify next year I will not have any debt hanging over me. |
| To have £50,000 of student finance to pay back at 6.1% interest as a middle-aged man would have meant I wouldn’t have done nursing. I have already taken a big pay cut so having debt is definitely going to put off mature students like me who have a lot to offer. Men in this profession are already outnumbered 7 to 1 but we can build therapeutic relationships with other men with mental health issues where women just can’t. | To have £50,000 of student finance to pay back at 6.1% interest as a middle-aged man would have meant I wouldn’t have done nursing. I have already taken a big pay cut so having debt is definitely going to put off mature students like me who have a lot to offer. Men in this profession are already outnumbered 7 to 1 but we can build therapeutic relationships with other men with mental health issues where women just can’t. |
| ‘Scrapping the bursary isn’t a bad idea - it’s not enough to live on anyway’ - healthcare assistant from London | ‘Scrapping the bursary isn’t a bad idea - it’s not enough to live on anyway’ - healthcare assistant from London |
| I’m applying next year to do nursing. I actually think scrapping the bursary wasn’t an entirely bad idea. It wasn’t enough money to live on. My sister is a nurse and she had to work to cover her living costs while studying on top of also doing clinical placements, which was very difficult for her. At the moment, I’m working to save money for university. However, I plan to also take out student loans and apply for any grants universities offer - with the cost of living in London I don’t want to be worrying about money when studying such a demanding course. | I’m applying next year to do nursing. I actually think scrapping the bursary wasn’t an entirely bad idea. It wasn’t enough money to live on. My sister is a nurse and she had to work to cover her living costs while studying on top of also doing clinical placements, which was very difficult for her. At the moment, I’m working to save money for university. However, I plan to also take out student loans and apply for any grants universities offer - with the cost of living in London I don’t want to be worrying about money when studying such a demanding course. |
| I think removing the bursary will obviously affect the amount of people going into nursing - statistics show that the amount of applications this year have already dropped by a quarter. We aren’t attracting applicants and seasoned nurses are leaving not because there is something wrong with being a nurse, but because there is something wrong with the NHS. It is an underfunded, bureaucratic and disrespected institution. The workload for doctors and nurses is too high. I personally plan to leave and work in Canada when I qualify. | I think removing the bursary will obviously affect the amount of people going into nursing - statistics show that the amount of applications this year have already dropped by a quarter. We aren’t attracting applicants and seasoned nurses are leaving not because there is something wrong with being a nurse, but because there is something wrong with the NHS. It is an underfunded, bureaucratic and disrespected institution. The workload for doctors and nurses is too high. I personally plan to leave and work in Canada when I qualify. |