A north-east health board is to continue student placements as it insists that protecting learning amid the pandemic is “critical.”
In England, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is introducing emergency education standards to allow final year students to support the response to Covid-19 with extended placements.
This means first-year nursing and midwifery students will focus on academic and online learning rather than participating in clinical placements while the system is under pressure due to the pandemic
NHS Grampian has said there are no plans in place for final year students in the region to support medics in a similar way to those south of the border.
And health chiefs also said that learning is continuing with efforts in place to make sure there is a safe environment for everyone.
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said: “In Scotland student supernumerary status is being maintained for all students and that are currently on programme, with placements continuing across all parts of the programme.
“NHS Grampian and partner Higher Education Institutes along with Education Recovery Group set up in response to Covid-19, work collectively to ensure clinical placements remain a positive safe learning environment for all. There are currently no plans for third year students to support the workforce in the way outlined in the emergency standards, nor to make any changes to the balance of theory/practice for first years.
“Our students are our future workforce and it is critical we protect their learning as much as we can. NHS Grampian in conjunction with local and national education partners, continues to review student learning during this time and ensure the health and wellbeing of our students and their learning experience is a key priority.”
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