Government plans to scrap the bursary funding for students on nursing, midwifery and other health degrees will mean around 2,000 fewer people a year will study for a career in the NHS, according to a new independent economic analysis released today (Wednesday) by UNISON and NUS.

This plummet in the number of NHS students will mean even fewer qualified new recruits for the NHS from 2020, causing trusts to spend more on agency staff or overseas recruitment to make up the inevitable shortfall in numbers, says the report.