NHS mileage allowances deter nurses from taking community roles
Nursing student explains why practice in the community will be unaffordable for her unless mileage rates are increased to reflect rising petrol prices
A nursing student’s dream of qualifying as a community nurse could be thwarted because mileage rates do not reflect the cost of travel.
The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, struggled to make ends meet as mileage rates failed to keep pace with fuel prices.
‘I had a placement in the community which I loved,’ she said. ‘But unless the mileage rate increases, it just wouldn’t be worthwhile financially,’ she told Nursing Standard.
The RAC Foundation estimates some NHS community nurses and other public sector workers who use their cars for work are on average £6,000 out of pocket annually.
Temporary rise in mileage rate ends soon
For the nursing student, evidence of the problem has come in her current role. Her band 3 post supporting public health nursing – which she combines with her studies – requires around 400 miles of travel a month. In Northern Ireland, where she works, the mileage allowance is 56p for the first 3,500 miles driven and 30p for every mile driven thereafter.
However, the rate for miles driven after 3,500 miles will drop to 20p from September 2023. The 30p rate was a temporary response to the cost-of-living crisis.
‘In January, I’d done 377 miles. And I got £75 for that,’ she said. ‘I’m hopefully going to be band 5 next year, but that’s maybe a pound an hour more than band 3, so it’s not a huge increase. To have that expense driving around the community – it’s definitely not a route I perceive going down.’
Nurses are leaving community roles because of petrol prices
The impact on staffing of static allowances was noted in an NHS Confederation and NHS Providers survey conducted last year. It found NHS community services leaders feared nurses were turning down jobs and shifts due to the rising cost of petrol.
One nurse leader in a mental health crisis resolution and home treatment team in England confirmed to Nursing Standard she has seen colleagues leave over travel costs.
‘Somebody working in an inpatient ward without using their car is earning the same money as somebody who uses their car and petrol daily. So, some people have decided they’re better off working in an inpatient ward than in the community, where you have to use your own transport,’ she said.
The mileage rate in England, set by the NHS Staff Council, is currently 59p per mile up to 3,500 miles and 24p for every mile thereafter.
She said the failure to raise mileage allowances was shortsighted, given service pressures.
‘We provide support for people to be treated at home instead of being inpatients. These people would otherwise be admitted into the wards – and, of course, there are no beds there.’
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