DESPERATE HEALTH Sciences Students are borrowing thousands to complete their courses, a YUSU study has revealed.
Britain’s next generation of midwives and nurses are struggling to pay travel expenses for placements that can be over 100 miles away.
“I am barely able to afford to get to placement, let alone pay for parking in the car park,” one student complained.
“Doing a 12-hour shift and then having a 1hr 45min journey on each end of the day is tiring to say the least.”
One student has even had to quit the course because of the financial challenges.
“My monthly income is lower than my travel expenses and thus I am having to quit my course despite being academically and vocationally capable. It’s crushing to be told as a mature nursing student to find part-time work when my placement hours do not allow this.”
Worryingly, 42.6% of respondents reported spending over £200 a month on travel to and from placements. 10% of the students questioned spend over £350 each month on course related travel.
Even though some students can claim back travel costs, over 55% of respondents reported that they had to wait over 7 weeks to receive reimbursement.
“Myself and other students have had weeks where something has to give- food or travel. It’s not right that we should have to make that choice!” one angry trainee nurse explained.
Many Health Sciences students also highlighted difficulties with public transport as bus and train schedules do not favourably coincide with the structure of the working day. A university run bus service has been suggested as one alternative, with more support for travel being demanded.
“[I] resent the fact that there is NO help whatsoever. We are supposed to get there no matter the cost, which for many of us is a very stressful position to be put in,” a desperate midwifery student commented.
A large percentage of those surveyed complained that means testing for travel expenses was inappropriate.
“My parents have re-mortgaged their home in order to help me pay rent while I struggle on what little I get. It is presumed that if our parents earn over a particular amount that they will/can support us. This is not always the case.”
Unlike many other courses, Health Sciences degrees run for 47 weeks per year and are both academic and vocational. Vocational placements last 12-15 weeks and students are expected to work the same shift patterns as full time NHS employees. Nurses and midwives are also expected to complete a day of theory at university while on placement.
Amy-Eleanor Bascombe, a third year mature student and a single mother, said “a simple apology is not longer acceptable. All we ask is that we are given every opportunity to get the most from our training and be supported to become the best nurses we can be.”
Bascombe, last year’s Course Rep of the Year, recently appeared on BBC Radio 4 to discuss the current failures of NHS bursaries in supporting Health Sciences students. On September 20th, thousands of students in the UK did not receive their bursary payment on time and several student struggled financially as a result.
“What NHS bursaries fail to comprehend is that even when payments are made on time students are struggling to pay rent, buy food, and afford to get to placements. When the payments didn’t come, many students were immediately in debt. Bank accounts overdrawn, bills not paid or late, students having to use quick payout companies, credit cards. This also means that when the payment does eventually arrive the value of that money is decreased to cover the additional debt.”
YUSU President Kallum Taylor recently met with MP Frank Dobson to discuss this issue and has been a loud voice in supporting the Health Sciences students.
“Here at York, these students clearly prop up the University’s (at best) acceptable figures on recruitment of students from poorer backgrounds. York can, and should, do more not just to help these students.
“The problem needs tackling if we’re serious about our students’ wellbeing and, well, self-respect. Taking on the ‘waiting game’ burden to expenses reimbursement would be a start – where the institution immediately reimburses the student, and then the institution places to claim with the NHS. Further, a meaningful change to the financial/hardship support on offer should be looked at for these students specifically.”
Taylor continued: “This should not be seen as a headache, but a massive opportunity to do a lot of good and avoid further silent crises amongst these students. The research we have backs up what everyone has been thinking for a while – and ‘understanding’ the problem is no longer enough.”
The Department of Health Sciences were contacted but unable to comment. They currently run a small-scale travel loan scheme to support students.
If you are interested in supporting the Health Sciences students at York, sign Amy-Eleanor Bascombe’s petition “Introduce a fourth student loan payment for Health Sciences students” at change.org.