PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Nurses: Coronavirus (25 June 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure hospitals and NHS trusts have the continued stability of supply routes and skills of trainee nurses required in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

Health Education England (HEE) is working with stakeholders and partners across the system to ensure that we continue to attract prospective students onto pre-registration programmes, reduce attrition from those programmes and support newly qualified nurses into roles within trusts. HEE is working with universities to understand the impact of COVID-19 on students being able to complete their programmes, understanding what they need to do to complete their degree and putting steps in place that will enable them to graduate and take up roles within the National Health Service.

From September 2020, eligible new and continuing nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession students studying pre-registration courses at English universities will benefit from a new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year in addition to the funding available already through the Learning Support Fund and Student Loans Company.

This Government continues to support and fund the apprenticeship programme, which includes Nurse Degree Apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are an excellent way to enter rewarding and valuable careers within the NHS and social care, and they will continue to play a vital role in delivering the high-quality skills employers need and that will support our economic recovery post-COVID-19.

Answered by:
Helen Whately (Conservative)
8 July 2020