Learning disability nurses are to get more than 85 per cent of their course fees covered, the government has announced.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the measure to address the recruitment crisis in nursing.
Campaigner Paula McGowan believes new grants will be key to improving recruitment of learning disability nurses
Following the abolition of bursaries in 2016, applications for learning disability nursing courses have plummeted.
Health Education England says numbers applying for training courses between 2016 and 2018 fell by 50 per cent, risking a shortage.
£5,000 a year grant, plus £3,000 top-up
Johnson announced that from 2020 all nursing students will get a £5,000 per year grant.
This will be topped up by an additional £3,000 for those in specialisms that are struggling with shortages, such as learning disability nursing.
Nursing degrees for September 2020 demand fees of £9,250 per year. This means that those on learning disability courses will see a massive chunk of the costs covered.
Johnson said he had heard loud and clear that the priority of the British people was to “focus on the NHS”.
Campaigner welcomes the move
Campaigner Paula McGowan has fought for learning disability and autism training for all NHS staff since the death of her son Oliver.
Oliver, who had autism and epilepsy, died in 2016 at the age of 18. This followed an allergic reaction to antipsychotic medication at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital.
McGowan said Johnson’s announcement “opens the door to talented students who may not have been able to access these courses” by “taking the financial barrier out of the way”.
Announcement will ‘hopefully’ encourage more nurses
Dame Donna Kinnair is the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
She said the announcement would “hopefully encourage more people to apply to a nursing degree by the mid-January deadline”.
The RCN wants at least £1bn extra per year to be invested in higher education for nursing.
Related:
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- Tory plan hits learning disabled
- Learning disabled die from lack of help
- Apprentice plan fails learning disabled
- Disabled children hidden from society
- New voice for learning disabilities
- Vulnerable people need justice reforms
- Adults fear death in poor healthcare
- Still stuck in mental health hospitals
- Nurse condemns over-medication
- Warning over learning disability nurses
Published: 19 December 2019
