Roles and Responsibilities
Resident Doctor |
Educational Supervisor |
Head of School and Training Programme Directors (HoS & TPD) |
Trust's Postgraduate Medical Education Team |
NHS England South West (NHSE SW) |
Overview
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It is the responsibility of the Resident Doctor to ensure that they have familiarised themselves and adhere with study leave guidance and procedures set by NHS England Southwest and their Trust
Personal Standards
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Should prioritise their application for study leave in line with their needs at the point of training and consider the integrity of the requests for training which are not aligned to their curriculum requirements.
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Must meet the standards expected of them, in accordance with their obligation to demonstrate professional integrity, when applying for a course, event or conference.
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Will be expected to adhere to the NHS Financial Regulatory Terms and Conditions when submitting a claim.
Applications for courses
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Should ensure they apply for local approval of study leave in good time after discussion with, and the approval of, their ES (or TPD or HoS where applicable) in line with the Trust and NHS England South West’s procedures.
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When applying for time off in advance, approval for the time must be approved by the postgraduate doctor’s Rota Coordinator (or equivalent).
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Should not commit to the costs of any course activity or events until the full approval has been received. Any costs incurred by the Resident Doctor without having prior approval will be borne by the Resident Doctor.
Reimbursements
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Resident Doctors should provide proof of attendance in line with the Trust policy for other courses for which they are claiming study leave time and/or costs.
Rotating to a different region
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Where a Resident Doctor rotates to a different region, they will follow the study leave policy/guidance of that region.
Study Leave Guidance
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To familiarise themselves with the guidance and procedures set by NHS England South West and their local Trust. This includes the course list for their speciality.
Study Leave and the Resident Doctor
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To discuss personal development plans which are aligned to the postgraduate doctor’s needs at that time in their training. All mandatory training should be completed prior to any approval for study leave. Career progression activity should only be approved if the core competencies are being met satisfactorily.
Applications for Study Leave
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To ensure they enact the guidance in line with the requirements and liaise with the TPD and HoS to ensure there is clarity in the decision-making and approval process.
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To ensure courses/educational activities are approved at the right time in training.
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To verify the postgraduate doctor has met the core curriculum requirements before approving study leave.
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To authorise study leave in a timely manner as applicable.
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Not to approve retrospective requests for time nor payments under any circumstances.
Applications for Study Leave
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To offer advice, clarification and approval for study leave if required.
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Assess where a course or equivalent is available locally or regionally, funding should only be approved in truly exceptional circumstances for a postgraduate doctor to undertake the course elsewhere.
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To work collaboratively with NHSE SW to ensure that study leave funding is managed with integrity, according to the principles of this Guidance, ensuring equity and fairness is applied in the process.
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Deviations from study leave guidance can be discussed with the Head of School, who can make a discretionary decision in conjunction with the NHS England South West Study Leave team.
Courses, Course Lists, and Annual Development Plans
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To work collaboratively with TPD and/or ES to assist with identifying their educational training programmes, both local and regional.
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To provide support to update the course list for their speciality on an annual basis.
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It will be the responsibility of the HoS to provide NHSE SW with their Annual Development Plan and NHSE SW will confirm to the HoS the funding allocated to support these courses. Each course will have a unique reference number and must be included against the expenditure on the monthly return. (Resident Doctors should be able to gain access to the unique reference number on the NHSE SW website for regional teaching days if they wish to self-certify attendance and claim any expenses related to that event).
Overview
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It is the responsibility of the Trust, as an employer to ensure Resident Doctors have been inducted into the Trust and have been provided with the Trust Policy and process on how to request study leave and claim reimbursements.
Study Leave Guidance
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All staff involved in the approval of study leave must ensure that they are familiar with and follow NHSE SW Study Leave Guidance. This is essential if we are to ensure that study leave funding is allocated in a fair, equitable and consistent way.
Allocation of Study Leave
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Ensuring probity of allocation, expenditure and approval is applied equitably and fairly.
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Ensuring funds are allocated correctly and to support delivering quality educational activity that meets the Resident Doctor and local needs.
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Ensuring the Study Leave process is fit for purpose.
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The Trust will ensure that Less Than Full-time (LTFT) and academic Resident Doctors will have equitable access to study leave.
Maternity
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Where a Resident Doctor takes maternity leave the Trust will ensure that their entitlement to study leave continues, this may be taken during ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days or will otherwise accrue to be taken at a later date.
Payments and Reimbursements
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Ensure through discussion with clinical leads and/or process that payment is made appropriately and in a timely manner.
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It is the responsibility of the Trust to monitor and challenge these expenses prior to submitting them to NHSE SW on their Monthly Study Leave Return, failure to do this will result in the Trust having to reimburse the Resident Doctor.
Record Keeping
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Each Local Education Provider Education Centre is expected to keep a clear and concise record of all study leave time taken by individual Resident Doctor. This must be submitted in a timely manner on a monthly basis to NHSE SW.
Work in collaboration with NHS England South West
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Ensuring they provide to NHSE SW the information required as set out in this guidance.
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Working collaboratively with the Study Leave Oversight Group members and Trusts to ensure a mutually fair, transparent and equitable process is in place.
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Working collaboratively with the HoS (and/or TPD).
Equity and Fairness
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To ensure that study leave funding is managed with integrity, according to the principles of the Study Leave Guidance, ensuring equity and fairness is applied in the process.
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To ensure requests for funding are considered on a case-by-case basis and budget allowing.
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Adhere to the conditions as set in the study leave guidance.
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Ensure any retrospective claims are sent to the appropriate Trust, as NHSE SW are unable to support retrospective claims under any circumstances.
Appeals
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Process appeals in accordance with the process outlined in the study leave guidance.
Annual Development Plans (ADP)
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To provide a unique reference number for funding approvals for courses on the ADP
Overseas courses
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To provide a unique reference number for funding for approved overseas funding requests.
Over £1000 courses
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To review and provide approval for courses over £1000
Further Education
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Continue to provide Resident Doctors with an opportunity to access funding for postgraduate certificates through the competitive Bursary application process.
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Postgraduate Diplomas, Masters and PhD courses will not be funded under any circumstances.
Review the process
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Working collaboratively with the Study Leave Senior Panel to ensure the process is followed fairly, as stated in the Study Leave Guidance.
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Working collaboratively with the Study Leave Oversight Group members and Trusts to ensure a mutually fair, transparent and equitable process is in place.
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Continue to review the integrity of the process to ensure it is providing what is needed to process the study leave claims and payments.
Trust Monthly Returns
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Process the Monthly Returns provided by the Trusts for the purposes of reimbursement.
Updates to policy
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It is the responsibility of NHSE SW to update Trusts and Resident Doctors on any changes to the national principles for Study Leave.