THOSE who have signed an Adver petition to scrap this year’s tuition fees for healthcare students fighting on the frontline have given their reactions to the online campaign.

The petition, which has now reached more than 700 signatures, was launched on Change.org in support of the thousands of student nurses, paramedics and midwives who have signed up as part of the national effort against Covid-19.

Some have said that scrapping the fees is “the right thing to do”, with others arguing that making the students – who have had their courses cut short by coronavirus – pay the annual £9,250 costs would be “unfair.”

Some of the students were on unpaid placements at the start of the pandemic, while others are carrying out paid shifts as contracted band four level nurses.

But despite signing up, out of their own good will, those graduating this year are still expected to cough up the fees, without having access to the student nurse bursary.

Lynne Duval, who lives in Bristol, commented on the petition and said: “These students, including occupational therapy and physio students, should not be financially disadvantaged especially during Covid 19”, while Kathy Bairstow commented, “I think it’s grossly unfair that they devote so many hours of their training on clinical work without pay.”

Ruth Roberts added: “I think it was wrong to introduce fees in the first place. Health students have always had to work as part of their training. This should actually mean they are paid a little on top of their fees being paid! A more sensible way of dealing with this is to state that they must work for a minimum of four years for the NHS after training and qualifying or repay part of the fees if they choose to work abroad or privately.”

There have also been comments from people who have said that they are relatives of frontline staff.

One of those is Susan Kind, who said, “Nurses are angels in shoes and should not have to pay over and above to save lives. My daughter is a nurse. A job she does with care, compassion and so much dedication. Honour her by allowing more nurses to support her and others to do their jobs, by not making these angels go into debt, to do the amazing job they do...looking after us and saving lives!”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Lorraine Crow, who said: “My daughter is a second year nursing student, called into placement three months early."

One comment, from Barry Thompson, also comes with a personal touch, reading: “’I’m signing because I have nothing but praise for the way my wife and my family were treated while my wife was recently in hospital.”

Jennie Kiff also expressed support, commenting: “It is time we gave nurses the respect they deserve and support them in a more practical way than just clapping them every Thursday”/

Mia Warren said: “They have all risked their lives for this country, time for this country to pay them back!”

If you feel that tuition fees for students working on the frontline should be scrapped, the petition, titled ‘Fair deal for students nurses, paramedics and midwives on front line of coronavirus fight’, can be found here.