§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether courses attracting payment of tuition fees by the NHS will attract payment of top-up fees. [145029]
§ Mr. HuttonExisting contracts between strategic health authorities and higher education institutions for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional training, cover the full cost of that training, including tuition. The consultation document "Funding Learning and Development for the Healthcare Workforce" sets out our proposal for a national model contract. It is intended that this contract for national health service funded pre-registration courses, to be introduced from 1 April 2004, will specifically prohibit the charging of variable fees to students.
In the case of medical and dental training, the NHS currently meets students' liability for a contribution to tuition fees for the later years of the course. There is as yet no clear indication from the higher education sector of the scope or scale of any increases that they may intend to make to these fees. The Department of Health will continue to monitor demand for, and take up of, places on courses in medicine and dentistry after the introduction of variable fees in 2006–07. It will consider, in consultation with the Department for Education and Skills, any measures it deems necessary to safeguard the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on medical and dental training programmes, once the full implications of the introduction of variable tuition fees can be assessed.