{"id":8854,"date":"2016-05-26T16:03:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T15:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8854"},"modified":"2016-05-27T12:35:18","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T11:35:18","slug":"ticking-time-bomb-for-nhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8854","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Ticking time bomb\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for NHS"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Nurses form the backbone of the NHS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re often the first person you have contact with in the health service when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re born and the last member of staff who attends to you when you die.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Being a nurse is no walk in the park \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a majority of nurses in the NHS work 12-hour shifts regularly. Amid an unprecedented shortage of staff, nurses are constantly being asked to do more, with record numbers being off sick from stress last year.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And they do all of this for the privilege of an average salary of little more than \u00c2\u014130,000 a year; starting pay is \u00c2\u014122,000, well below the national average.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think to resolve the nursing recruitment crisis, the government would do all it could to make the profession a more desirable one to work in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead, it is doing just the opposite as it aims to scrap bursaries for student nurses from September of next year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the moment, student nurses do not have to pay any tuition fees and they can apply for non-repayable bursaries of up to \u00c2\u01414,191, of which \u00c2\u01411,000 is not means-tested.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Debt<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If bursaries are scrapped, however, they will have to pay full tuition fees and living expenses, which, if students cannot afford these costs, must be funded by loans. This could mean nurses would begin their careers with up to \u00c2\u014150,000 of debt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These untenable changes will not only saddle some of society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most important workers with a mountain of debt, but they will also put further pressure on an already strained NHS as the recruitment crisis worsens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite joined Unison, NUS and the RCN yesterday (May 26) in its latest bid to stop the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals, as student nurses descended on Westminster to lobby their MPs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite member and student nurse Danielle Tiplady explained to UNITElive why bursaries were so important.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bStudent nurses work incredibly hard,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m on a placement at the moment doing 46 hours a week. I do nights, weekends \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there simply aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough hours in the day for me to take on another job to support myself. The bursary is a lifeline for me and all student nurses.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She pointed to a new economic analysis<\/a> commissioned by the RCN and NUS which shows that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s planned overhaul of bursaries, which also support those studying midwifery, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, podiatry, radiography, dietetics, occupational health, and other allied professions, will worsen the NHS staffing crisis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The analysis concluded that the 71 per cent increase in student costs after the bursary system is scrapped would entail a 6 per cent drop in student intake \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which would translate into 2,000 fewer graduates each year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The analysis also found that the roughly \u00c2\u0141500m the government says it will save will be totally wiped out by rising agency staff and overseas recruitment costs resulting from fewer students in the UK entering the profession.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs a nursing student and a soon to be nurse, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned to listen to evidence in order to better patient safety,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Tiplady said as she urged the government to consider the latest analysis. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bJeremy Hunt, as health secretary, should learn to do the same. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his job. He needs to start listening to the evidence.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour MP for Easington Grahame Morris, himself a former NHS worker, agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Incredibly risky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe thing that I find most disappointing as something with a science background is that the health secretary Jeremy Hunt is ignoring the evidence that suggests that this scheme works,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been very successful in recruiting good quality nurse trainees to enter the profession \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it has borne fruit. And to scrap it now seems incredibly risky in terms of the impact it will have on patients and the service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that we protect the bursary system if we are to ensure that we have a proper structure with recruitment and career progression for our nurses because they are the engines of the NHS,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Morris added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Morris was among several Labour MPs who came out to support the campaign and meet with student nurses to discuss what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at stake as the government moves to scrap nursing bursaries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell highlighted the difficulties that student nurses face.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that student nurses already work incredibly hard,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey go onto the wards and do a full day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have time to earn extra money like other students because of the hours they have, including coursework on top of a full day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard graft.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government simply doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand the impact scrapping bursaries will have on student finances. Students have to travel to a placement that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often quite far and they have to get up very early in the morning. In future, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to pay for that travel as well.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maskell hit out against the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s argument that its proposals are cost-neutral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you add up all these additional costs, nursing students will actually be put further into debt than other students,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe called the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan to abolish nursing bursaries \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba ticking time-bomb for the NHS.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Worsened health outcomes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf bursaries are abolished, the NHS will go through a continual workforce crisis which will mean worsened health outcomes for our entire nation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHealth is the single most important factor in any country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s welfare \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t healthy, we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to work, we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to produce, we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to enjoy our lives,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Jarrett-Thorpe added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo health has to be at the centre of what we do for a productive economy and a productive society.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans, Jarrett-Thorpe argued, are entirely ideological.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is only happening in England \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in Scotland they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not doing this, in Northern Ireland they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not doing this, in Wales they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not doing this. So there are proven examples where having a successful and funded bursary programme for health professionals actually does work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jarrett-Thorpe noted that yesterday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lobby was only the beginning in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaign against abolishing bursaries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite, together with the other health unions and the NUS are at the forefront of a major and ongoing campaign to push the government into reversing its stance on funding bursaries,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite will also be supporting a march on June 4, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be adding our weight to the consultation that the government has put out which closes on June 17. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also going to continue harrying Labour MPs, Conservative MPs, SNP MPs, Lib-Dem MPs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to get them to change the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind on this.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out the latest about the Bursary or Bust<\/em><\/strong> campaign here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And you can sign Danielle Tiplady\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s petition \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which as of writing has received more than 100,000 signatures \u00e2\u20ac\u201c here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pic by Mark Thomas <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nurses form the backbone of the NHS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re often the first person you have contact with in the health service when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re born and the last member of staff who attends to you when you die.   Being a nurse is no walk in the park \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a majority of nurses in the NHS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[29,458],"wps_subtitle":"If nursing bursaries go, health will suffer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8856,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854\/revisions\/8856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}