§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student nurses left their courses before qualifying(a) in 2002 and (b) in 2003 to date. [135407]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 4 November 2003]The in formation requested is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to improve the bursaries available to student nurses. [135408]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 4 November 2003]National health service bursary rates across all professions are considered each year and have been uplifted annually since 1998, including an increase of 10.4 per cent. (well ahead of inflation) in 2001.
The Department has made a number of other improvements to the NHS bursary scheme, including extension of eligibility for disabled students' allowances and hardship support to diploma level students, and more help with the costs of travel and accommodation. The Government have also committed to introduce help with the costs of child care from 2004.
My ministerial colleagues and I continue to keep NHS-funded student support arrangements under review in order to ensure that they continue to meet our objectives for the service.