‘Matt Hancock was promising the public that student nurses were joining the workforce before we’d even been asked. That was really bizarre and surreal, because we were seeing in the news about student nurses opting in to join the frontline and we didn’t know anything about that yet.’
Sophie, a student nurse working in London, opted in to join the frontline fight against Covid-19 back in April after the government put a call out for third-year students to help the overwhelmed NHS. As a result, she lost her living arrangements, her relationship broke down and since she was already working in hospitals for the duration of 2020, she hasn’t seen her family since February.
And yet, last week the government told all student nurses that their sacrifices were not worth the pay they were promised – nor were they deemed to be ‘providing a service’ in healthcare workforce. After promising students six month paid contracts if they opted in the join the frontline, it was announced that their contracts would be terminated on the 31st July, leaving them without income unexpectedly. In an even more controversial moment, care minister Helen Whateley told a fellow conservative MP ‘Student nurses in training are supernumerary and are not deemed to be providing a service.’
Now, the government has been forced to make a U-turn on this decision after a petition to maintain student nurses' paid contracts until the 31st of October received over 200,000 signatures. ‘These placements are normally … unpaid but to recognise the special circumstances and as part of the response to Covid-19 these clinical hours have been paid,’ Health Education England (HEE) stated in an FAQ issued on Friday. ‘Any student in the last six months of their programme on paid placement will be fully paid until the end of their employment contract offer, unless voluntarily ended early by the student.’
Despite their U-turn, the choices that have been made and the comments about student nurses from Tory MPs have not gone unnoticed. ‘It’s all such a slap in the face,’ says Sophie. ‘It’s hard for people to appreciate how hard student nursing is anyway, so to then go through all of this and we still have to qualify and do everything for our course as well as working through a pandemic, to be told it’s not worth paying you for that it just beggars belief.’
A lot of student nurses end up working 70 hour weeks.
‘I was gobsmacked when Helen Whateley said that,’ says Chloe, another student nurse working in London. ‘Because whether or not we’re leaning, it goes without saying we do provide a service. The demand on the NHS right now is huge and I feel more worked than ever.’
Listening to Sophie and Chloe, it’s hard to understand how anyone who understands the care industry – as Helen Whateley should - could come to the conclusion that student nurses do not provide a service. Alongside their studies and assignments, for which current third year students paid full university fees to finish as the government defunded student bursaries for nurses in 2018 (before u-turning again this year), they work full-time in hospitals in order to complete their placement requirements.
‘It’s full-time with three or four long shifts a week, so those are 12.5 hour days,’ says Sophie. ‘Because student nursing placements not usually not paid, a lot of people also do shifts in hospital banks to get by and end up working 60 to 70 hour weeks.’
The promise of a paid placement then was a huge relief to many nurses struggling to support families and children while finishing their degree. Sophie, for example, was working weekends at a local shop just to make enough money to travel to and from work before she these placements became available. To take them away with little judgement then, would’ve left thousands of nurses with no future income at a time when finding paid work has never been harder.
It seems to be yet another gripe in a long line of offences on student nurses. ‘The Conservatives have this contempt for us, and the NHS in general, they always want to be seen to be doing something but they’re just trying to get away with the bare minimum,’ says Sophie. ‘A few months before I started my course in 2018 they got rid of the NHS funding for it and the bursaries, so we had no support at all. Then we found out earlier this year they were re-introducing the bursaries but they weren’t going to backdate them to give us a bit of support after the fact. The 2018 cohort got the worst deal possible.’
I’ve only seen one friend in five months.
The 2018 cohort are currently the third-year students who were asked to sacrifice their wellbeing by joining the frontline, all of which culminated in not just the stress of working through a pandemic but huge strains on their personal lives too.
‘I was lodging with a family friend and she essentially evicted me because she was worried about me being on the frontline, it was all very awkward and stressful,’ says Sophie. ‘I haven’t seen my family since February and I’ve only seen one friend in five months. My relationship broke down too. It’s been really hard for me.’
Chloe agrees. ‘It’s the most stressful experience, we don’t get a break,’ she says. ‘We work full-time and still have assignments to finish, i had to hand in my dissertation on Monday. U had to move out of my family home and not seeing them has been really difficult. We are nurses so we have that caring aspect, you worry about leaving them behind for so long.’
And so you can see why they are understandably frustrated with a government that would not only deem their sacrifice unworthy of any reward, but continue to mess them about as professionals while standing on their doorsteps clapping for carers.
‘The Conservatives the idea of the NHS saving lives but when it comes to helping the people involved, they’re not really bothered,’ says Sophie. ‘Removing bursaries, removing NHS funding and now this, that’s the true example of how they feel about us.’
‘Matt Hancock keeps promising 50,000 new nurses, where’s he going to get them if he doesn’t start supporting us from the beginning?’ she continues. ‘I’m excited to qualify and I’m glad I did it, but if I knew how stressful it was going to be anyway without the coronavirus crisis happening, I’m not sure I would’ve put myself through it.’
Update: On publication of this, a government spokesperson has since commented:
'It has always been the case that any final year student in the last six months of their programme on paid placement with hours to complete could carry on until September. We have clarified that we’re giving them the opportunity to see out their contract but we expect that by September they would have completed their hours and would want to qualify and go up a pay band.
'In normal circumstances, while student nurses are on placement, we ensure that they have the space to learn and develop under close supervision. This is what is technically called “supernumerary” – meaning that they cannot be included on staff rotas and are not normally paid.
'Wards must be fully staffed by qualified nurses. Student nurses are there providing extra support, while they are learning. This protects patients, staff and student nurses alike.
'All students are required to complete placements during their training, but as the Covid19 response was an exceptional ask, these hours have been paid.
'We are bringing paid placements to a close by the end of summer in line with course requirements, so students can qualify as registered nurses or continue with their studies as planned (so they can complete and qualify as quickly as possible)
'Any student in the last six months of their programme and on paid placement will be paid until the end of their contract, unless otherwise agreed. By the end of July most final year students can qualify as registered nurses and start full time work, increasing their pay.'
Read More:
Meet The Young Nurses Who Need A Side Hustle Just To Pay Their Bills