Bursaries for student nurses will be restored after they were scrapped as part of the Conservatives' austerity measures.

The return of the payments of up to £8,000-a-year - scrapped by former prime minister Theresa May - was one of the central measures of the Tory general election manifesto unveiled last month.

It formed part of a plan for 50,000 additional nurses for England intended to underline the party's commitment to the NHS.

Image: Boris Johnson promised he was going to 'focus' on the NHS

Critics pointed out that about 19,000 of those nurses would be retained staff rather than new recruits.

Downing Street confirmed on Monday night that annual payments of £5,000 would be available to all student nurses - as well as some allied health professionals - from September next year.


It added a further £3,000 would be available for specialist disciplines, such as mental health, which are hard to recruit for.

At the same time, the government announced it was pressing on with a review of the NHS pensions issue which led some senior doctors to turn down extra shifts because they were being hit by hefty tax bills.

NHS England has previously announced special arrangements for 2019-20, meaning no doctor in England will be worse off as a result of taking on extra shifts this winter.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "I have heard loud and clear that the priority of the British people is to focus on the NHS - and to make sure this treasured institution has everything it needs to deliver world-class care.

"There can be no doubting our commitment to the NHS and over the coming months we will bring forward further proposals to transform this great country."

Appearing on Sky News, Health Secretary Matt Hancock was challenged over the reinstatement of the bursaries.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

He said Mr Johnson's administration was a "new government" and added: "Well, we're tackling the problems that we see in front of us - and forward, not back as someone once said.

"The challenge you've got to rise to is the challenge in front of you."

Mr Hancock defended the Tories' nurses pledge, telling Sky's All Out Politics that he would "repeat this until I'm blue in the face".

"I think the public understands it, I just wish that more presenters did," he told Adam Boulton.

Image: Since 2017 nursing student have had to pay tutition fees, the RCN said

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair welcomed the grant as "a first victory for the campaign that our student nurses are running".

"This announcement will hopefully encourage more people to apply to a nursing degree by the mid-January deadline," she added.

"In the run up to the budget, we continue to call for our students to not pay tuition fees up front. Any barriers for people wanting to enter nursing must be removed."

The RCN pointed out that since 2017 nursing students have had to pay university tuition fees too and claimed they now leave saddled with nearly £30,000 of debt.

The union added that the policy has a significantly negative impact on mature students, who make up a large proportion of learning disability and mental health nursing courses.