Like most years since its birth, it has been an intense year for the NHS. From junior doctors coming to the brink of strike action, to a south London choir beating Justin Bieber to the Christmas number one. But for me and many others one of the biggest events was George Osborne announcing he will be scrapping the NHS bursary and funded tuition for students who begin training in nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy and speech language therapy (the list goes on) in his Autumn Statement.
The Tories have decided nurses and other healthcare professionals will graduate with up to £50,000 of debt - despite half their training consisting of work placements in hospitals and the wider community. Students will pay to train while completing up to 48 hours unpaid work a week.
