- Conference
- 2015 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference calls on the Health Service Group Executive to take the lead in a campaign calling for a decent wage for healthcare students during their training. Conference recognises that healthcare students are required to work 37.5 hr on a rotational shift rota whilst on placement and actively participate in patient care often holding their own case load.
This effectively prevents healthcare students from taking other part time jobs similar to other students going through university. This result in healthcare students struggling to maintain a decent living standard on below that of the minimum wage/Living Wage, which can often result in students racking up massive amounts of debt before they are qualified.
However, conference recognises that some of the nations may be in a weaker position to achieve salary status for healthcare students than others. Where this is the case, conference further reaffirms its decision in 2014 to argue for a living bursary to ensure that no healthcare student is left in financial hardship until salary status is achieved.
Conference further calls on the Health Service Group Executive to
i) campaign for all nursing and other ‘non-medical’ pre-registration healthcare students to be paid a salary no less than the Living Wage and
ii) develop campaign material which should be used in every healthcare student recruitment activity to highlight the real support offered by UNISON.