NHS staff discounts and benefits
Working for the NHS comes with more than your payslip. Some perks save a few pounds on shopping. Others, like the pension and salary sacrifice, are worth thousands a year. Here are the ones worth knowing about, starting with the biggest.
1. The NHS Pension
This is by far the most valuable benefit. Your employer pays 23.7% of your pay into it in England and Wales, on top of what you pay. A Band 5 nurse on £32,073 gets about £7,600 a year from their employer this way. Use the NHS Pension calculator to see what it adds up to.
2. Tax relief you can claim
- Uniform laundry. £125 a year for most clinical staff, £185 for ambulance staff and £80 for lab and pharmacy staff, backdated up to four years. See NHS uniform tax relief.
- Professional fees. Registration fees to bodies like the NMC and HCPC, and many professional memberships, can be claimed against tax.
- Mileage. If your trust pays less than HMRC’s 45p a mile for business journeys in your own car, you can claim tax relief on the difference.
3. Salary sacrifice
Most trusts offer cycle to work, lease cars and sometimes buying extra annual leave through salary sacrifice. Because the money comes out before tax and National Insurance, a basic-rate taxpayer saves about 28p in every pound. See what it does to your pay with the NHS salary sacrifice calculator.
4. Discount schemes
| Scheme | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Light Card | £4.99 for two years | Thousands of online and in-store discounts, including discounted gift cards |
| Health Service Discounts | Free | Discounts, vouchers and an optional cashback card |
| Your trust’s staff benefits portal | Free | Local offers, gym deals and salary sacrifice schemes |
Offers change all the time, so check before you buy. Bank and agency staff can usually join the main schemes too.
5. Other help
- Tax-Free Childcare. The government adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, up to £2,000 a year per child.
- Free flu vaccine at work each winter.
- Occupational sick pay of up to six months full pay and six months half pay, depending on your service.
To see your full pay with unsocial hours, London weighting and everything else, use the NHS pay calculator.
We are not paid by any of the schemes listed here.