Student nurses' all-night vigil

Sutdent nurses want better conditions

Student nurses held an all-night vigil outside the Department of Health on Tuesday as they step up a campaign for salaries during training.

They warn that unless action is taken the nursing shortage already afflicting the NHS is bound to get worse.

At present, student nurses are given bursaries worth about £5,000 a year after salaries were phased out by the last Tory government.

Returning to salaried status would mean the UK's 60,000 nursing students would earn around £10,000 a year.

£2.60 an hour is not acceptable in this day and age. We want dignity and respect

Alice Dawnay, Unison Nursing Students

The nurse are also protesting at the lack of affordable accommodation, and at recent cuts to travel allowances which they say are forcing thousands of student nurses to drop out of their course.

About one in three student nurses fails to complete the course, according to union leaders.

The vigil is being organised by public service union Unison as part of its "Yes to Wages, No to Poverty" campaign.

Petition

At least 50 student nurses from across London handed in a petition to Downing Street calling for student nurses and midwives to be returned to a salaried status in the NHS.

The students then spent the night outside the Department of Health in Whitehall to highlight their campaign.

Union leaders say that the low bursary and the long hours they work on placement in hospital wards mean they earn as little as £2.60 an hour.

Alice Dawnay, president of Unison Nursing Students, said: "Our action today is in protest at the worsening situation faced by nursing students.

"We have no other option but to make a stand for our rights and our profession."

She added: "Nursing students now face the double problem of surviving on a bursary and long hours on placement.

"£2.60 an hour is not acceptable in this day and age. We want dignity and respect."