Nurses- do any of you commute into London?( or non nurse commuters)

[frazzled74]

Due to nhs changes my work base and job will shortly be changing and I've been looking at options. If I were to commute to London there would be a wider choice of jobs, train and tube/walk would take 1.5 hours and cost around £6000 a year. Does London weighting get paid if you live outside London? If so, would this cover the travel costs? How reliable have trains been? Do nhs trusts offer a loan or pay monthly scheme for outlay of travel or would I need to have saved a few hundred for initial first months travel costs? I'd appreciate hearing about any of your experiences.

[ladyme]

London weighting gets paid wherever you live - it's based on where the workplace is, but I'm not sure it would cover your costs. In Inner London it's 20% of your basic salary up to £6,405 and outer london is a maximum of £4,483. Some trusts do offer season ticket loans though, and you pay it back through your salary. There's some info here www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/pay-in-high-cost-areas
When I had my baby, the midwife worked in London and lived in Glasgow and said she just about made it work by doing 3 long shifts and staying overnight.

[Frazzled74]

Thanks ladyme,wow that is a long commute !

[GRW]

I did for a while, from Leighton Buzzard to Euston and walked from there to Great Ormond Street. We did 12 hour shifts which made it affordable as only working 3 or 4 days a week. On Sundays the trains didn't start early enough but it was possible to drive and park on those days.