Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1423. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he intends to extend the enhanced travel and subsistence scheme for student nurses and midwives to student doctors also known as medical students, who face the same costs in relation to meals, subsistence, scrubs purchase, laundering and travel to placement sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1197/23]
View answerStudent Doctors do not receive an allowance to support time spent on placement as part of their course. There are no plans to change this.
The Deputy may be aware that across the health and social care disciplines, there are a large number of students on placement in hospital and healthcare settings, approximately a third of which are final year students. The length of placements and the activities performed during these placements vary between the disciplines. These students are not employees therefore not paid, and in many cases the nature of the placement can, in the main, be limited to participation in an observing and a learning capacity.
Uniquely for student nurses and midwives there is, in the final year, a paid salary when they are specifically employed on an internship placement. Student nurses and midwives’ final year internship placement consists of a continual 36-week rostered clinical placement, including annual leave. The internship placement is a paid placement as the student nurses and midwives take a reduced caseload. During these placements, students are under supervision and are considered as 0.5 WTE of the workforce. In addition, Intern students can be allocated across all shift patterns including nights, weekends and 12-hour days.
Clinical practice placements form 50% of the overall education programme requirements for student nurses and midwives, where 100% attendance at supernumerary practice placement (45 weeks) is mandatory to complete the degree programme. The enhanced travel and subsistence scheme for student nurses and midwives undertaking supernumerary clinical placement arose following recommendation from the McHugh Report which was an examination of the existing arrangements regarding additional travel, subsistence and accommodation requirements of student nurses and midwives on clinical placement specifically. Supernumerary students are not included in the staffing complement and are not in receipt of a salary. They learn under the supervision of a registered nurse/midwife and are not accountable for patient care. Again, given the unique requirements of these training programmes attendance at many placement sites is required, some of which are at a distance to base training hospital and the current allowance is to contribute to the cost of alternative accommodation / travel.
Some practice placement locations are not accessible by public transport and require student nurses and midwives to travel by car or make personal arrangements. There are considerable variances in the distances students are required to travel to attend mandatory practice placements depending on the undergraduate programme they are undertaking and the location of that programme.
