Study Leave & SPA

Here you will find information on claiming study leave in the North West Deanery.

This link will take you directly to the HEENW study leave website where forms and additional ifnormational can be found when making an application.

We strongly advise you read the North West School of Anaesthesia's Guide to Supervision, Study leave & Educational Development Time.


Allowance

All trainees are entitled to 30 days per year of study leave.


Claiming Leave

To claim study leave you must first complete a FS1 Form and complete sections A-C.

This form should then be emailed to your Education Supervisor and Rota Master to eletronically sign.

Once they have counter signed the form should be forwarded to your study leave administrator (see below)

They will forward the form to your TPD, and if accepted it will be returned to you with a study leave expenses claims form.


Study Leave Administrators

ACCS - bfwh.postgraduate.education@nhs.net 

Core Trainee North School - postgrad@srft.nhs.uk

Core Trainee South School - coresurgery@mft.nhs.uk

ST3+ Trainee - lesley.taylor@mft.nhs.uk


Study Leave Expenses

Once accepted you will be sent a study leave expenses claim form. This should be returned within 3 months after the first day of your course OR prior to the end of february following your course, whichever is sooner.

You can claim expenses for:

Travel - Up to the cost of a standard class return ticket via train. Mileage is charged at 23p/mile from base hospital.

Course Fee - As specified in the original claim when approved.

Accommodation - £120/night B&B outside London and £150/night within London.

Subsistence - up to £20.

Keep records and receipts for accommodation and subsistence claims to be successful.


Educational Development Time (EDT) Time

Formerly known as SPA time, from August 2021 trainees will be allowed to take 'SPA' time to work towards viewing online tutorials, completing QI projects, being involved in preparation for teaching and training others, completing tasks towards further Post-graduate qualifications and preparing their applications for ST4, consultant jobs or other roles. This will also allow time for trainees to work towards completing evidence towards the Generic Professional Capabilities on the 2021 Curriculum.

This will be separate to Study Leave, and will take the place of the Primary and Final weekly tutorial programmes.

It is voluntary and traineess may prefer to spend the time in the clinical workplace. 

Trainees who miss their EDT time due to on-call commitments, so nights or post on-call, will not be able to request that this be taken at another time. This is to ensure that we minimise time away from clinical training, while allowing time for the extra-clinical domains that they will need to complete.

SPA for different years of training: 

CT1 - attend New Starter Tutorials and the North West Primary regional course face-to-face. SPA to take the place of the Primary Tutorial Programme (Tuesday pm) AFTER completion of the New Starter Tutorial programme. EDT - Tuesday afternoon.
 
CT2 - attend the North West Primary regional course face-to-face. SPA to take the place of the Primary Tutorial Programme (Tuesday pm). EDT - Tuesday afternoon.
 
CT3 - SPA to take the place/time of the Primary Tutorial Programme (Tuesday pm). EDT - Tuesday afternoon.
 
ST4 - attend the North West Final regional course, Special Wednesdays and working through the four ST4 subspecialties. SPA to take place/time of the Final Tutorial Programme (Wednesday pm). EDT - Wednesday afternoon.
 
ST5 - if not already, attend the North West Final regional course and Special Wednesdays. SPA to take place/time of the Final Tutorial Programme (Wednesday pm). EDT - Wednesday afternoon.
 
ST6 and 7 - able to take 20 half-days as EDT over the course of the year, not part of Study Leave.
 
For ST6 and 7, these are half-days, and the half-days will be allocated by the College Tutors or local Rotamasters in discussion with the trainee, and be spread throughout the working week. Any  half-day for each individual trainee is likely to be different each week, to ensure that this is done fairly for all trainees. This is for EDT and so should not be put together to make extra annual leave. We will be asking for evidence of what has been achieved at ARCP, and we will define how this evidence is presented.
 
For those trainees in CT1 and 2, and ST4 and 5 they will be expected to evidence having viewed at least 20 Primary and Final tutorials as part of exam preparation, which will be accessed online  via the mmacc/e-LFH website, and evidenced by certificates of completion, logbook and PDF of completion from the E-LFH website:
 

EDT (SPA) Workbooks

The links for the workbooks can be found here as well as a guide for making the most of the workbooks:
 
Workbook for Stage 1: STage onE Programme (STEP)
Workbook for Stage 2: STage twO Programme (STOP)
Guide: Optimising the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Workbooks

These workbooks have been designed for trainees completing stage one and stage two training. They contain lists of appropriate video tutorials available for each stage of training and also the dates for the face to face tutorials/courses which can also be found on the teaching and revision section of this website:

These are live google documents that are 'read-only'. It is advised that you open the file and save a copy for your own personal use. You can then edit and tick off each tutorial you watch/attend, and use this as supplementary evidence of how you have utilised your SPA time and this can be uploaded to your Lifelong Learning Portfolio as evidence of CPD. If a tutorial name has not got a link attached to it, this means it has not yet been created (work ongoing). Please check the SAVEd section of mmacc.uk website, or this master copy of the stage 1 and 2 workbooks for the most up to date tutorial list.

Alternatively if you do not have access to Google Documents and would prefer to use an Excel Spreadsheet, the links can be found here:
 
Excel Spreadsheet for Stage 1STage onE Programme (STEP)
Excel Spreadsheet for Stage 2: STage twO Programme (STOP)
 

North West