BARROW MP Simon Fell has backed a growing campaign to reduce tuition fees for the thousands of student nurses working on the frontlines during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Mr Fell argued the government should be looking at ways to recognise the contributions made by key workers at a time of national crisis.

Newsquest, the publisher of The Mail, has launched a national campaign to scrap this academic year’s tuition fees for all student nurses, midwives and paramedics at the heart of the NHS effort to tackle the biggest public health crisis in a century.

Mr Fell said: “I think this is a really good campaign and I commend Newsquest for its efforts to bring further attention to this issue.

“A few people in the area have written to me about this and I’ve raised it with the Health Secretary.

“It’s a tricky balance. We’ve got to make sure that universities and colleges aren’t losing out from this as a consequence. So it needs to be properly thought-through.

“We should be looking at how we recognise the contribution of key workers. This doesn’t just necessarily mean health workers, but also supermarket workers.

“There are people at home who’ve also done a huge deal to help services and communities manage during a time of national crisis.

“Obviously recognition for these people would not be the same as the recognition we’re discussing for student nurses. But I don’t think their contribution should be forgotten.”

According to an official count last month, more than 5,550 students from 35 universities in the country had opted to interrupt their studies and take up an extended, paid clinical placement to help tackle the crisis.

However, student nurses - along with students of every other healthcare subject - have not seen any reduction in their tuition costs.

The government has advised universities can continue to charge full fees and refused to bail out the sector.

As a result, universities in England have maintained fees at £9,000 per annum, as many prepare for a financial shortfall.

The prospect of continued online teaching into 2021 means higher education centres are bracing themselves for thousands of students not to apply or take up places for the coming academic year across all subject areas.

More than 80 Labour MPs have called on the government to support student nurses in England by wiping the higher-education debt of those nurses working for the health service during the pandemic.