Credit union savings, loans and mortgages for NHS staff

Our NHS loans for staff are available to employees at our partner NHS trusts — Guy’s & St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, Royal Free London, London Ambulance Service, or Synnovis. You can also join if you live or work in Southwark, Lambeth, Westminster or Camden, or if you’re in a healthcare role in Greater London. Recent leavers and retired staff from our partner trusts can usually join too. If you’re not sure whether you qualify, get in touch and we’ll check.

A credit union is a not-for-profit financial co-operative owned by its members, not by shareholders. That means any surplus goes back to members through better rates and lower fees, rather than to external investors. Like banks, we’re authorised by the FCA and the PRA, and eligible savings are protected up to £120,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Once you join and tell us which trust you work at, we’ll set up a deduction directly from your NHS salary. Your agreed amount — for savings, loan repayments, or both — comes out of your pay each month before it reaches your bank account. There’s nothing to manage, no standing orders to set up, and no risk of forgetting a payment. If your pay varies month to month (for example because of unsocial-hours enhancements), the deduction amount stays the same.

Yes. Unlike mainstream lenders whose automated systems often reject non-standard income, we take bank hours, agency shifts, and unsocial-hours enhancements into account when we assess affordability. Every loan application is reviewed by a person on our team who understands how NHS pay actually works. If your income is secure but doesn’t fit a standard template, this is exactly the kind of application we’re built for.

You stay a member. Your savings, loan, and account move with you — they’re yours, not tied to the employer. If you move to another LMCU partner trust, we’ll update the salary deduction arrangement. If you move to a non-partner employer, we can usually switch repayments to Direct Debit. If you leave paid work entirely, we’ll work with you to find a repayment plan that still works.

No. When you first apply we use a “soft” credit search, which doesn’t show up on your credit file and doesn’t affect your score. A full credit check only happens if your loan is approved and you decide to accept it. That means you can see whether you’re eligible without any risk to your credit record.

Yes — and unlike most mainstream lenders, we’ll count bank hours and agency shifts toward what you can borrow. Our in-house mortgage team assesses each application on its full financial picture, not just headline employment type. You can see more on our mortgages for NHS bank or agency hours page, or book a free call with a mortgage advisor.