Student nurses in NI being forced to use food banks, committee hears

Some student nurses in Northern Ireland are being forced to use food banks because of low pay, MLAs have been told.

Representatives from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also said the “ball is in the court of the Executive” whether strike action can be avoided this winter.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has signed off on another £200 million for nurses’ pay in the region, but said the money would have to be found by the powersharing Executive because he is facing a funding shortfall in his department.

The RCN has lodged a formal dispute over the failure to implement this year’s pay award for staff.

During an appearance before the Health Committee, the executive director of the RCN in Northern Ireland, Rita Devlin, was asked if she recognised remarks from an Assembly debate that nurses were being forced to use food banks.

She said: “We have had a few, mostly student nurses, that have had to use food banks because the student bursary is only about £4,500.

“We have evidence. I think people think of student nurses as being young, out of school people, they are absolutely not.

“More and more they are mature people with families who have maybe given up jobs to come and do training for student nurse.

“Some of them are very lowly paid.”

She added: “Financially it is very difficult for them and we have seen some of them have to leave (the profession) because they can’t afford to do it.

“The food banks, I haven’t had anybody come to us but obviously people don’t come to you if they are using food banks.

“We do know that people rely on food banks at the end of the month whenever their bursary has run out.”

Ms Devlin said many nurses were the main breadwinners in their homes.

She added: “The cost of trying to come to work and childcare really means that some people are struggling.

“I don’t know if any of you had noticed but rent is extremely high in Belfast.”

DUP MLA Alan Robinson asked when the RCN would be able to make a decision about whether nurses would go on strike this winter.

Ms Devlin said: “The ball is in the court of the Executive.

“What we have said is we have given until the end of September for any movement on pay.

“Because there is nothing on the table as yet, we will continue our preparation so we will have to ballot members if nothing happens at the beginning of October.

“We will probably ballot for about five or six weeks so it would be probably mid-November, early December.

“We are all hoping that we don’t have to do that.

“The clock is ticking.”