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Why I'm protesting alongside healthcare students to save the NHS Why I'm protesting alongside healthcare students to save the NHS
(7 months later)
In the 2016 autumn spending review, the government announced plans to scrap the NHS student bursary and replace it with tuition fees, landing future nurses with £65,000 worth of debt. Healthcare students point out that this would mean students end up effectively paying to work for the NHS on their placements.In the 2016 autumn spending review, the government announced plans to scrap the NHS student bursary and replace it with tuition fees, landing future nurses with £65,000 worth of debt. Healthcare students point out that this would mean students end up effectively paying to work for the NHS on their placements.
These funding cuts being driven through by the Tories start from a totally incorrect assumption: that education only benefits the individual, and therefore the individual should bear the cost. But nowhere is it clearer than in the case of student nurses, that education benefits everyone in society.These funding cuts being driven through by the Tories start from a totally incorrect assumption: that education only benefits the individual, and therefore the individual should bear the cost. But nowhere is it clearer than in the case of student nurses, that education benefits everyone in society.
Related: Student nurses prepare to march as anti-fees campaign swells – #BursaryOrBust
This week, students across the country are participating in a week of action against the NHS education cuts. I am not a healthcare student – I study politics – but I am motivated to take action because I recognise the importance of a fully-funded, free National Health Service. We are also fighting for a fully-funded, free education system, because without it we won’t have a society with the skills to treat the sick or look after those in need.This week, students across the country are participating in a week of action against the NHS education cuts. I am not a healthcare student – I study politics – but I am motivated to take action because I recognise the importance of a fully-funded, free National Health Service. We are also fighting for a fully-funded, free education system, because without it we won’t have a society with the skills to treat the sick or look after those in need.
While the week of action, coordinated by the Student Assembly Against Austerity and the NHS Bursary Cuts Forum, is all about access to nursing education, it is also part of the wider fight for free, publicly funded education for all. We are determined to build a united movement, with both healthcare and non-healthcare students campaigning side-by-side.While the week of action, coordinated by the Student Assembly Against Austerity and the NHS Bursary Cuts Forum, is all about access to nursing education, it is also part of the wider fight for free, publicly funded education for all. We are determined to build a united movement, with both healthcare and non-healthcare students campaigning side-by-side.
Students from universities and colleges across the country are taking part – from Staffordshire, Derby, Lancashire, London, Oxford to Manchester. We will be organising banner drops and creative stunts, and lobbying our politicians to support the campaign.Students from universities and colleges across the country are taking part – from Staffordshire, Derby, Lancashire, London, Oxford to Manchester. We will be organising banner drops and creative stunts, and lobbying our politicians to support the campaign.
Tomorrow our focus will turn to supporting the junior doctors’ strike. Student nurses will walk out of their placements across the country in solidarity with the junior doctors and in protest against the cutting of their NHS student nurse bursaries.Tomorrow our focus will turn to supporting the junior doctors’ strike. Student nurses will walk out of their placements across the country in solidarity with the junior doctors and in protest against the cutting of their NHS student nurse bursaries.
Charlie Baker, 20, president of Derby College’s student union, says: “NHS bursaries and bursaries as a whole enable students to develop in their chosen careers. We support the action against these cuts as we see the benefit for the whole of society and want to support individuals to continue on their chosen paths without finances being a barrier.”Charlie Baker, 20, president of Derby College’s student union, says: “NHS bursaries and bursaries as a whole enable students to develop in their chosen careers. We support the action against these cuts as we see the benefit for the whole of society and want to support individuals to continue on their chosen paths without finances being a barrier.”
Related: Will scrapping nurse bursaries help or worsen NHS staffing crisis?
Connie Judkins-Law, 20, a student at the University of Kent, will also be taking part in the action. She says: “This is not an issue that will directly impact only student nurses and doctors – it will have an impact upon the entire system for generations, and it spreads the idea that the system does not care about its workers or its patients, thus failing its primary intentions. We should all be standing in solidarity with NHS workers for the sake of our own health as well as theirs.”Connie Judkins-Law, 20, a student at the University of Kent, will also be taking part in the action. She says: “This is not an issue that will directly impact only student nurses and doctors – it will have an impact upon the entire system for generations, and it spreads the idea that the system does not care about its workers or its patients, thus failing its primary intentions. We should all be standing in solidarity with NHS workers for the sake of our own health as well as theirs.”
As Aneurin Bevan, the founding father of the NHS, once said: “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.” With the huge, destructive cuts and privatisation currently taking place, the stakes couldn’t be higher.As Aneurin Bevan, the founding father of the NHS, once said: “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.” With the huge, destructive cuts and privatisation currently taking place, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
But without a publicly funded, free education service to train our doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals, our fight to save the NHS will be a losing battle because the NHS would be nothing without its well-trained staff. That’s why the student movement is uniting in the struggle to defend our NHS and our education. All our futures depend upon it.But without a publicly funded, free education service to train our doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals, our fight to save the NHS will be a losing battle because the NHS would be nothing without its well-trained staff. That’s why the student movement is uniting in the struggle to defend our NHS and our education. All our futures depend upon it.
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