Cuts to healthcare student places will impact Derry "worse than elsewhere" due to the impact on the Magee campus at Ulster University, it has been claimed.
Student nursing and allied health places at Ulster University and Queen's are set to be cut by 300 due to budget constraints, the Department of Health at Stormont has said.
Foyle MLAs Mark H Durkan and Padraig Delargey have raised concerns about the impact the cuts will have, with Mr Durkan pointing in particular to the blow to the campaign to increase student numbers at the Magee campus of Ulster University.
Read more: Nearly 1,000 healthcare students make the switch to Magee campus in Derry
A spokesperson for the Department of Health, in a statement issued on Monday, said: "Simply ignoring financial constraints is not a realistic option, and not just because it would be in breach of legal or professional responsibilities. Any overspend this year would simply mean even greater budgetary pressures next year.
"The Department fully understands the concerns being expressed about the decision to limit new nursing student places to 1025 this year."
SDLP MLA Mark Durkan, meanwhile, said: “This news is utterly bleak- not only is cutting training places in Health Sciences; including Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Radiography, Radiotherapy and Oncology, completely counter-intuitive and disastrous for future provision and patients, but these cuts will impact Derry worse than elsewhere."
He continued: "We fought hard to get Health Sciences courses moved to Derry, bolstering student numbers at Magee yet now the number of places is being cut just two years since the places were announced to great fanfare.
“This decision also comes as a blow to those people who want to pursue a vocation in any of these fields but are now being told they can't do it here. These decisions in the name of short-term savings, are tantamount to self-harm.
"The damage will be felt (and paid for) for years to come. It will create the perverse situation which will push more students from Northern Ireland to attend Health Science courses elsewhere while leaving the health service struggling to cope under ever diminishing resources, not to mention the patients unable to access life-changing and often life-saving support.”
Sinn Fein's Padraig Delargey said: "This is a direct consequence of immoral and damaging Tory cuts from London that is further decimating our public services.
“Our health service is already under huge pressure and staff are burnt out from working long hours in our hospitals and this will pile even more strain on workers at a time when we need more nurses.
“One party’s refusal to form an Executive has blocked a three-year Budget and investment in the health service that would have hired more doctors and nurses and has now left health and social care at the mercy of savage Tory cuts.
“We need an Executive formed now and all parties working together with a local health minister to prioritise health and fix the problems."
He added: “The British Government needs to end these cruel cuts and deliver more investment in our public services now.”
READ NEXT:
- Derry and Fermanagh GAA respond to Nicola Gallagher claims
- Warning to the public after wire tied between trees in Co Derry park
- Full list of candidates for council elections in Derry City and Strabane
- Co Derry mum's shock at cancer diagnosis after attributing stomach pains to exercise and diet change
To get the latest breaking news from Co Derry straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
