MEDICAL students moving prematurely into hospitals to help the fight against coronavirus should have part of their student debt scrapped, Plaid Cymru demanded this morning. 

The party’s shadow minister for health Rhun ap Lorwerth claimed the move would serve as recognition of the “invaluable contribution” medics have made on the front line. 

The call follows an announcement by the Welsh government last week that final-year medics, nurses and midwives will be brought into paid roles in the NHS to deal with the crisis. 

“To show our gratitude and as recognition of the invaluable contribution they are making and will continue to make to the front-line operation over the course of this crisis, part of their student debt should be written off,” the MP for Ynys Mon said. 

“When this is over, our debt to health and care staff will be insurmountable. However, we can start repaying that debt now by demanding all front-line workers have access to testing, adequate personal protective equipment and mental health support.”

Last week Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that 5,500 final-year medical students would be joining the front line of the NHS in England. The students were due to graduate in August. 

Medical, nurse and midwife students can be charged up to £9,000 a year to study at university, leaving them with debts totalling tens of thousands of pounds when they leave. 

Astronomical fees, coupled with the scrapping of bursaries for nursing and midwifery students in 2017, have resulted in thousands of vacancies in hospitals.