Tories attackWelsh Government for failing to track NHS students

The Welsh Government has been accused by the Conservatives of spending more than £2m on bursaries for medical students without tracking whether they end up practising in the Welsh NHS after qualifying.

A letter from Cabinet Health Secretary Vaughan Gething seen by the Welsh Conservatives said the Welsh Government does not hold any data on how long junior doctors stay in Wales to work following completion of their training.

A separate letter from Mr Gething revealed that in the past five academic years, £2,068,000 has been spent on bursaries to medical students, marking a £413,600 annual average spend on this policy.

From their fifth year of study, undergraduate medical students are eligible to receive an NHS meanstested bursary in Wales, as well as having their tuition fees subsidised for two years.

Students studying medicine also receive a non-means tested grant of £1,000, and in many cases are eligible for reduced rate student loans.

Nursing students, as well as midwives and allied health professionals, who are recipients of Welsh Government bursaries, must agree to practise in Wales for two years after their studies are completed.

Full-time medical students do not face a similar requirement.

Shadow Health Secretary Angela Burns said: “Cash incentives can be effective in attracting medical professionals to Wales for study and work, but with hundreds of thousands spent on this policy annually, it is vital that taxpayers are able to feel that value for money is being achieved.

“That the Welsh Government does not event track where students who receive this bursary end up practising means hundreds of millions of pounds worth of manpower and expertise could be lost to the Welsh NHS and they’d be none the wiser.

“The data gap is a glaring blind spot in the Welsh Government’s ability to collect data on the effectiveness of this policy; they are in essence giving money away without concern for how it’s being spent.

“While I support bursaries for medical students they should be subject to the same agreements as nursing students, midwives and other allied healthcare professionals.”

A Welsh Government spokesman responded: “We make no apologies for investing in our medical students. We’re delivering record levels of investment and more staff are working in our NHS in Wales than ever before. We are working with the Wales Deanery and other organisations to collect data on medical students as they leave Welsh medical schools.”