NHS and emergency service staff can get more than 15,000 discounts at high street and online brands through the Blue Light Card scheme.
The Blue Light scheme costs £4.99 to join for two years and you'll need your work ID or a recent payslip to prove you're eligible for the service. It can also take up to seven days to be registered.
However, once registered, you’ll eligible to get discounts from large national retailers to local businesses across categories such as holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones, and many more.
NHS and emergency workers who are striking will likely face a hit to their immediate pay packets so knowing where discounts can be had will be useful for those taking a stand.
You can see a full list of who is eligible for a Blue Light Card at the bottom of this article.
Supermarket discounts
Asda
Blue Light members can get a small discount at a range of different supermarkets which with the rising cost of food, will be a great benefit for NHS and emergency service workers.
Earlier this month, big four supermarket Asda announced it was to extend its 10% discount on food shops for Blue Light members until March of next year when originally it was going to pull the scheme.
The 10% discount can only be used on a food shop so doesn’t include things such as tobacco, alcohol, infant formula/milk, mobile phone top-ups or lottery products and is only valid for in-store purchases.
Iceland
The frozen food giant currently offers new online customers and Blue Light Card members £6 off a £45 plus shop with free delivery if your shop surpassed the £40 mark.
Already established Iceland customers are able to get a smaller discount of £2 off but you will have to spend £60.
Morrisons
The other big four supermarket Morrisons offers Blue Light members a free Anytime Delivery pass when they do an online shop for over £40 and they also provide exclusive offers for NHS staff when they join Morrisons’ “More for NHS Club” using their NHS staff email address.
Clothing and shoe discounts
Some high street brands are currently offering Blue Light Members at least a 10% discount on their purchases which, particularly around Christmas time, could be incredibly useful.
As with all offers, the criteria for them vary with some only being valid on purchases instore and some only valid online, you can check the criteria for each store on Blue Light’s website or through the specific retailer's website. Some of the NHS offers are also only available for a certain amount of time.
Until December 31, JD Sports is offering NHS and emergency service staff 10% off their online shop. Schuh also offers a 10% discount however this is ongoing and NHS staff will be able to get this into the New Year.
New Look offers Blue Light Members a 20% discount on a purchase of full-priced items both online and in-store.
Other retailers listed by Blue Light as offering a discount for members include Apple, Body Shop, Boohoo, Charlotte Tilbury, Halfords, Rayban, Go Outdoors, and many more.
Mobile phone discounts
O2, EE, and Vodafone all list that they have discounts for Blue Light members with both O2 and Vodafone giving 25% and 15% discounts on specific plans.
For O2, NHS staff can get 25% off their 3GB plans or 15% off their 1GB+ airtime plans and for Vodafone the offer is 25% off selected airtime plans, or 15% off SIM only or tablet plans.
If you register online at EE with your NHS email address or NHS photo ID card, you'll receive a code for 20% off selected 24-month pay monthly phone, SIM or broadband plans.
With EE’s Blue Light offer you can extend the benefit to up to four of your friends and family.
Motor discounts
Blue Light members don’t only get high street chain discounts, they can also receive discounts on their cars too with Green Flag giving NHS workers, excluding volunteers, an extra 10% off new breakdown policies.
JustPark, the car park space-finding platform, also gives a 10% discount when signing up to the service with an NHS email address.
Eating and dining out discounts
Significantly more eateries are offering discounts to NHS staff through Blue Light with Pizza Hut, Beefeater, and Bella Italia giving 25% off meals to healthcare workers.
MacDonalds is currently providing a 20% discount for NHS staff, however, this is to end on December 31 this year, as well as Nandos, Yo-Sushi, and Frankie and Bennies.
Staff who find themselves at motorways service stations a lot will enjoy the 20% discount on Welcome Break service shops.
This 20% is valid at all Welcome Break services and gives discounts at retailers such as Burger King, Chopstix, KFC, Pizza Express, Pret, Subway, Starbucks and The Good Breakfast.
There are other schemes out there for NHS and healthcare workers which provide other discounts such as those on Light Blue and some brands are offering NHS workers discounts away from Blue Light.
One of those discounts is from Uber who are giving NHS staff two free £10 rides and a £10 meal voucher over Christmas.
The offer is available for anyone who has an NHS or HSC email address. Staff need to ensure that they have an Uber account linked to their work email. A promo code will then be sent which can be added to their Uber account.
The Uber and Uber Eats codes can be redeemed for trips and orders on December 24 and 25 December 2022.
Uber said it is doing this to thank NHS staff for their “tireless work” over the last few years.
Who can get a Blue Light Card?
You might be eligible for a Blue Light Card if your job falls into one of these categories:
- NHS
- Police Service
- Ambulance Service
- Fire Service
- HM Prison Service/HMPPS
- NHS Dental Practice
- HM Armed Forces
- MoD Civil Servant
- MoD Fire Service
- MoD Police
- Highway Traffic Officers
- Home Office - Border Force
- Home Office - Immigration Enforcement
- Home Office - UK Visas and Immigration
- Social Care - Care Company Workforce
- Social Care - Social Worker
- Social Care - Care Home
- Social Care - Residential Care
- Social Care - Council (Working in Care Sector)
- Social Care - Foster Carer
- Pharmacy Workers
