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Student representatives say the government is not doing enough to address the inequalities of the bursary system
HEALTH SECRETARY Alan Milburn thought he had cracked the problem of nursing student funding when he signed off a 10.4 per cent increase in bursaries last year. But, as students made clear at the RCN's annual congress last month, this is one issue that won't go away.
At a private meeting with Mr Milburn after his congress address last week, student representatives asked him to lobby his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland about standardising student funding arrangements. He said he was unable to.
This followed an earlier question and answer session where Mr Milburn was asked what he intended to do about inequality in the bursary system. He said he would discuss certain issues with chief nursing officer Sarah Mullally but offered no further commitment.
When Nursing Standard pressed the Department of Health on what this meant, a spokesperson said: 'We completed a review of NHS-funded student support...