All NHS staff in England are to be given two free Uber rides to get to and from work over the Christmas period.

The offer is available to working staff at a time when public transport is either closed or limited on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Last year, around 350,000 NHS staff were working while the majority of the country was unwrapping presents and tucking into turkey.

This breaks down as 97,000 nurses, 53,000 nursing assistants, 176,000 care workers, 12,000 ambulance drivers and 12,000 midwives.

Jamie Heywood, Uber’s general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said: “NHS staff will have enough to worry about this Christmas, so we’d like to at least try to take care of their travel.

“During a time when it isn’t always easy to get from A to B, we hope that this offer will help them get home to their families sooner.”

NHS staff can claim their free Uber trips by visiting here and entering their official NHS email address by 9am, Monday 24 December. The codes can be redeemed from 24 December to 26 December.

Secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock, added: “Everyone wants to be home with their families for Christmas Day but so many of our selfless NHS staff give up their holidays to care for those who need it most. It’s great that Uber have agreed to step in and offer a free ride home this Christmas and I hope this makes life a little easier for our dedicated NHS workers.”

How to claim:

  • Go to www.uber.com/nhs
  • Enter your NHS email address in the box.
  • You’ll receive an email on with your code.
  • Open the app, select ‘Payment’ from the menu, tap ‘Add Promo’, and pop in your code.
  • You will be sent your code by 21 December. If you register after this date you will receive your code on 24 December.
  • Make sure you claim your two rides between 00.01am on 24 December and 11.59pm on 26 December.