Student Nurse Dental, Sight test and prescription Award!

Lady_K

My Daughter is 21 in her first year of an Adult Nursing diploma course for the first 3 years, then the 4th year is to do the degree but work at the same time.

Shes just recieved her award for health costs and shes not entitled to NHS prescriptions and has to pay £24.45 towards any dental appointment and £8.15 towards sight test and £16.30 for contact lenses (but she doesnt wear them) To me this is crazy she really struggles to get by. I don't know how they have worked that out but they say she has excess weekly income of £8.15

The halls fees are split up charging for separate things like booking fees and car parking fees It seems they havent counted this with it and just used the basic halls fees. But she had no choice the booking fee had to be paid or she couldnt move in. They have said in the letter that her housing costs are £47.44 per week but that works out over 52 weeks a year (which I imagine is what they have done) to the cost of the housing without the booking free of £220 and the car park of £60.

They have put her down as personal allowance of £44.50 is that what they say everyones is?

Can she request a breakdown of how they worked this out. She goes to the dentist regular because she has to have continual orthodontic care so this is going to be a real expense to her. I'm quite surprised that nurses that are helped by the NHS with Bursarys to learn to become Nurses get some of it taken off to get NHS care.

Is there anything she can do?

Savvy_Sue

Is that £24.45 towards any dental appointment, or towards any course of treatment?

Also sometimes - I think! - that if a course of dental treatment was started when someone was entitled to free treatment that it can be completed on the same basis. I don't know if this always applies, and if not always then in what circumstances. But it might be worth checking with the dentist.

freebie_junkie

it depends on what other income you have apart from your loan and wether or not you live at home or if you do live away if your parents pay for your accomodation. i live alone permanently- i.e. get no parental help so i get teh full costs as im a student too. its as everything else, means tested.

Lady_K

Well that is what I am gobsmacked about. My daughter has no savings, has used all of her overdraft of 2k. She lives in halls during term time and then stays with me out of term time but I cannot help her financially as I am not working through sickness and she has no help from her father, we split when she was young. She has no job at the moment but shes going to try and get one to squeeze in around her nursing placements and full time uni hours.

After her expenses for uni halls fees ect she is left with £20 per week to live on for everything, food, clothes, travel to uni from the halls and anything else she needs and now added to this is dental costs and prescriptions. If its means tested something is definitely wrong because if she can't get it I dont know who can! We are going to appeal but we sent off all the information the first time so I don't know if they can change it. I just don't know how they work it out. We (my mother and myself) have had to help her with food because if we didn't she would starve basically and this is means tested! She doesnt want to leave the course but we have all wondered how she can possibly go on like this and the prescription thing has just been a slap in the face. As I'm out of work too its a strain on me aswell trying to help her with food and the same fr my pensioner mother. She cannot claim a hardship loan as she is on nhs bursary

millie

They turned down my sons application, and I phoned them to ask why, and how they expected him to live, he had told them that we gave him £20 per week, so they had taken that in to the calculation. I told them I was not giving it to him anymore because I could not afford it. He sent a new form off not telling them about the £20 and he got the free prescriptions etc. We still gave him the £20 there is no way they can find out if you just give it in cash.

freebie_junkie

thats not really fair on students who wholly support themselves.

Lady_K

Well if you think thats bad some students at my daughters university are getting all thier halls fees paid for by parents and money given to them every week on top of that and in big amounts. They buy designer clothes bags and shoes, eat out at expensive places, have weekly beauty treatments and massages fake tans ect, thow parties and still get thier tuition fees paid for because they con the system, I was disgusted. Some of them have doctors as fathers or teachers or thier parents have thier own business or some other well paid job and they get away with it. They even claimed the hardship loans. I wont say how coz I don't want to give anyone ideas but it really upset my daughter to see they were flaunting and bragging about it so openly and really did not need the money and she was struggling so much

freebie_junkie

thats really bad

i think the reason why most students are so in debt is because they drink and smoke excessively

i dont do either and im not overdrawn nor do i have to work part-time and i dont have any credit cards etc.