Petition · past parliament · Department of Health and Social Care

Ensure all healthcare students are paid while on NHS placements

Closed 1,884 signatures

What the petition asks

To consider at the very minimum an apprentice style wage for students in the healthcare profession. Due to understaffing, students are having to make up numbers and have less contact time with their mentors, we are working rather than learning.
Student Paramedics and nurses normally work 37.5 hours a week (and often 48 hours recently due to waiting times at hospitals) when on placement . For many, this leaves no time to make any money from work, which can make it unaffordable for many people to undertake a degree in the health profession. Healthcare students complete on average 2,300 hours of placement and contribute hugely to teams across our national health services. Despite this, we are still regarded as supernumerary.

Timeline

17 Mar 2023 Petition opened for signatures
17 Sep 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 1,884
Status Closed
Department Department of Health and Social Care
Opened 17 Mar 2023
Closed 17 Sep 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.