As part of its efforts to boost the number of nurses in the NHS by 50,000, according to press reports Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm that the government intends to reverse the decision made by former PM David Cameron to axe bursaries that help students with their living costs.

Around 35,000 students a year are expected to benefit from the new bursaries that will range from £5k up to £8k a year in areas of particular need. The government sees the reintroduction of student nurse bursaries as a vital plank in its drive to increase the number of nurses in the NHS by 50,000. It says this will be made up of 32,000 new nurses, and 18,000 existing nurses that would have left, but now as a result of measures such as this will now be staying in the profession.

Commenting on news ahead of the formal announcement that is expected to be made by the PM later today, Pamela Bruce, corporate director of Nurseplus, said: “While I believe the bursary can help in recruiting new nurses, particularly school leavers, it won’t attract mature students with bills to pay and family commitments.

“Personally I don’t feel this goes far enough,” added Bruce. “Nurse salaries, conditions, hours of work and in general the understaffing within the healthcare sector is taking its toll. Retention is going to be a bigger challenge than recruitment. The workforce planning strategy needs to be a much bigger picture that bursaries alone.”

However, Alex King, manager at the Leamington Spa branch at Nurse Seekers, welcomed the news. King told Recruiter: “This is going to attract more people to study nursing.” 

He said the bursary would address the biggest problem that is stopping people doing nursing degrees. “It is not like a normal degree where you study 12 hours a week, you actually do a full week out on placement,” he explained, “so it is really going to attract people to the sector.”

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