Forgiving medical student loan debt could help protect the future of a diverse NHS workforce

In a bid to improve the supply of clinical staff to the NHS, last autumn the Nuffield Trust published the Waste Not, Want Not report.1 It proposed a forgiveness scheme for the student loan debts of nurses, midwives, and allied healthcare professionals—fleetingly also mentioning the potential to expand this to include doctors. Introducing student loan forgiveness schemes for medical students represents a unique opportunity to both tackle the ongoing NHS retention crisis and restore the career option of NHS doctor as an aspirational and affordable choice for medical students.Medical degrees are expensive. My student loan balance sits at over £52 000, a figure that will only rise between now and my graduation in 2026. The figure when I graduate will undoubtedly dwarf the foundation year 1 basic salary of £32 398. Medical degrees are usually two to three years longer than those for nursing, midwifery, and allied health professions. Spending…
Read Original Article: Forgiving medical student loan debt could help protect the future of a diverse NHS workforce »