Simon Danczuk supports campaign urging government not to scrap student nurse bursaries

Simon Danczuk MP

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk signed the Early Day Motion calling on the Government to drop its plans to remove the student nurse bursary.

In his autumn statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced the scrapping of the NHS bursary in England for new student nurses, midwives and allied health professionals from 2017.

The NHS bursary system will be replaced with the standard undergraduate system, with fees of up to £9,000 and a much larger student loan for maintenance.

Unison, the public service union, says these changes would see students burdened with at least £51,600 of debt, plus interest and any overdraft and commercial debt.

Mr Danczuk said: "Nurses are the unsung heroes of our NHS and they play a vital role in all areas of our health care system.

"The proposal to scrap nursing bursaries is a step too far and could potentially put off the next generation of young men and women in Rochdale from entering what should be a rewarding and challenging career.

"If the NHS can't recruit or retain the nurses it needs we could be facing a genuine crisis in public health."

An Early Day Motion is where MPs call for a debate on an issue but they very rarely reach the debate stage. Instead their main purpose is to draw attention to a particular subject.