TRAINEE medics will get a cash boost to travel for NHS work placements and help out at struggling hospitals under government plans.
Students studying to be doctors, nurses and midwives will get a 50 per cent hike in travel expenses.
They will be able to claim £420 for every 1,000 miles travelled for training, up from £280.
The uplift comes under plans to increase medical training places to fix the NHS staffing crisis.
Health minister Will Quince said: “Working in the NHS is incredibly rewarding and we want to ensure a diverse range of students can pursue a career in nursing, midwifery or medicine.
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“We have therefore listened to students’ concerns and are taking action to ensure they are appropriately reimbursed for any additional costs of travelling for clinical placements.
“Ahead of the expansion of education and training places as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, this will help to support the next generation of NHS staff in their training.”
The Government announced it will double medical school training places to 15,000 annually by 2031 earlier this year in an effort to solve chronic understaffing in the health service.
Nursing and midwifery training places will also nearly double by more than 24,000 additional places a year, with £2.4billion earmarked for the scheme over the next five years.
Many hospitals buckling under the strain of successive strikes across Britain also find it difficult to attract university students when they finish studies due to where they are located.
A lack of staffing has held back many from tackling the ever-expanding NHS waiting list.
The new travel funding will come into effect today in time for the next academic year 2023 to 2024.
Students will be able to claim for bike or car travel and accommodation of up to £82.50 a night.
It could help more remote hospitals attract students for placements, increasing their chances of recruiting them in future.
