Million Plus

MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities, has today (19 July) responded to the Health Select Committee’s report ‘Impact of the Spending Review on health and social care’ which is focused exclusively on the spending review decisions for health and social care in England.

A spokesperson for MillionPlus said:

“We welcome this report and would echo many of the concerns the committee raises, some of which we recently highlighted in our response to the Reforming Healthcare Education Funding: Creating a Sustainable Future Workforce consultation particularly with respect to potential funding shortfalls.

“The committee shares our view that the government must be clearer in its funding commitments for health education and the management of placements needed to deliver the additional 10,000 qualified nurses, midwives and allied health professional staff that Ministers say will be provided by replacing NHS bursaries with the student loan system. Given this lack of clarity, we re-affirm our position that the abolition of NHS bursaries and their replacement by student loans should be deferred until the 2018-19 academic year at the earliest.”

“We also welcome the report’s recommendation that the Government review the impact on those training as a second degree and the news that the Committee plans to return to this issue.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. MillionPlus is the Association for Modern Universities. More information can be found at www.millionplus.ac.uk
2. For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Dan Blows on 020 7717 1658 or email press@millionplus.ac.uk
3. The MillionPlus response to the NHS bursaries: Reforming Healthcare Education Funding consultation is available here
4. The full Impact of the Spending Review on health and social care report is available here