Curriculum Study Leave

Yes – we have produced a video in conjunction with Nottingham University Hospitals. This takes you through the different application processes (eg applying for study, exam or private leave).

We added a number of rules into ‘Leave Manager Plus’ when we improved the system in August 2014. For example, if you are trying to submit a retrospective application (ie an activity that starts on the day you're applying or before), the system will not allow you to do so as retrospective applications are not permitted; this will show as there being "no approvers for the post and criteria selected". Also, if you try to apply for a course that costs more than your available budget, you won’t be able to apply for the full cost. You should only apply for the amount of money you have left (or less).  The same applies to the number of days you have left.

In order to apply, you must first be in a post on Intrepid; your post must have Approvers (eg Rota Co-ordinator/JDA) recorded against it (otherwise the post will show as 'Closed') and finally your entitlement/budget must be recorded (you can check this in the Leave Entitlements section of your account).

If you suspect some of this has not been done, please contact HEE at CSL.em@hee.nhs.uk.

If your post is 'Closed', this means that Leave Approvers are not set up for this post. Usually this is simply because it is a new post number (Leave Approvers are attached to post numbers).

Please contact the HEE team (CSL.EM@hee.nhs.uk) who can investigate and set up the approvers as appropriate.

There are two possibilities:

1. You are attempting to submit a retrospective leave application; as per the CSL policy, all leave requests must be submitted prospectively.
   • If you feel that you have mitigating circumstances that should be considered, please email us (CSL.EM@hee.nhs.uk)
2. If your leave request is prospective, please firstly check the dates you are requesting in case there is a typo (e.g. typing 2018 instead of 2019). If this does not resolve the issue, please email us (CSL.EM@hee.nhs.uk) as there may be an issue with your post number on Intrepid.

The expenses that can be claimed are those that appear in the drop-down when adding expenses; Course/Conference fees, mileage, public transport, accommodation and food. The rates at which these can be claimed are listed in Appendix D (page 17) of the policy. The policy (page 9) also outlines examples of unauthorised costs, such as examination fees and membership/subscription fees.

Expenses are marked as authorised when they are approved for payment by your Trust/Programme Office (see "How do I claim reimbursement of expenses?" later below). In order to claim expenses, only your leave request (with estimated expenses) needs to be approved 

Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for. If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact HEE (CSL.EM@hee.nhs.uk), and we can amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

In order to cancel a leave request that you have submitted but you will no longer be attending the activity, please follow the below instructions:

1. Login to your Leave Manager account (at www.intrepidv10.co.uk/HEE)
2. Go to Leave Manager (under the LEAVE MANAGER tab)
3. Click on the leave request that you want to cancel to open it
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page
5. Give a reason for the cancellation (this doesn't need to be lengthy or too detailed; it's just for your leave approvers' reference)
6. Click Request Cancellation

To claim expenses from your CSL budget, you must have submitted a leave request with expenses on Intrepid. 

For study leave taken over weekends, bank holidays and days when you would not otherwise be working you can either take time off in lieu or not declare those as time off in the application process (by entering 0 for study leave days when submitting the leave request). If you wish to take time in lieu, you must apply for the original leave date (on weekends/bank holidays/non-working days) prospectively on Intrepid. Arrangements for taking the time off in lieu should be discussed with employers prior to taking the initial study leave.

You can then include your expenses as normal before submitting your application.

Please remember when adding expenses to Leave Manager to click ‘Add’ after entering every line of expenses (even the first one); expenses are not saved until and unless you click the button. To check that the expenses have saved when you’re applying, make sure that the expense appears as a line under Leave Expenses (instead of saying ‘No leave expenses claims have been made for this application’).

The rules have been created in the new system to reduce the number of people in approval chains, speed up approval times and provide more accuracy. These changes have improved the experience for trainees, and enables us to provide a better service to users. The changes made to Intrepid provide us with more time to proactively manage the overall system and provide service to users.

If your entitlement on Leave Manager does not match the figure on the policy, and you are not affected by any of the factors above, please contact us.

In order to claim money from your study leave budget the following needs to happen

1. You need to submit a study leave application on Intrepid Leave Manager in advance of the study leave taking place and you need to include estimated expenses in your application.
   • Please remember when adding expenses to Leave Manager to click ‘Add’ after entering every line of expenses (even the first one); expenses are not saved until and unless you click the button.
   • To check that the expenses have saved when you’re applying, make sure that the expense appears as a line under Leave Expenses (instead of saying ‘No leave expenses claims have been made for this application’).
2. The application needs to be approved on Intrepid.
3. After the study leave has taken place you need to follow your Trust’s/Programme Office’s process for claiming the expenses within 8 weeks.
   • Please note that HEE do not pay expenses directly, and this is not done automatically by the Leave Manager system.
   • If you are unsure of your Trust’s/Programme Office’s process, please contact your local CSL Coordinator/Programme Office (details on our website) who can support you appropriately.
   • Please remember to submit your leave requests and expenses claims in an appropriate timeframe; forgetting this may prevent you claiming expenses, and exceptions will generally only be made for circumstances beyond your control.

Trainee details are primarily managed by our Programmes Team; please contact the team on the appropriate address below:

• For doctors in Foundation programmes: FoundationProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
• For doctors in General Practice programmes: GPProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
• For all other trainees on East Midlands training programmes: SpecialtyProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk

You will receive an automated email stating your application has been approved or declined. You will be able to monitor the progress of your request at any time on Intrepid. Where provided, approvers’ notes are recorded against their decisions – it is important you read these as there may be some important information for you.

You can also check the progress of your application at any time in the Leave Manager section of your account (under the LEAVE MANAGER tab).

There are two possible reasons for this:
1. TPD/Head of School approval is only required for Exception applications; it's not required for Standard applications (i.e. curriculum required activities).
2. The Exception approver (TPD/Head of School) doesn't see leave requests until/unless it's been approved by the rota coordinator/JDA/practice manager/local equivalent. If your TPD/Head of School can't see your Exception request, it's worth checking that it's been approved by the rota coordinator/etc. first.

In line with the CSL policy (and NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) you can claim the following expenses:

• Course/Conference fees
• Public transport (at standard rate)
• Mileage (at NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Reserve Rate)
• Parking (at standard rate)
• Overnight accommodation (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)
• Subsistence (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)

The rates (including links to the relevant NHS Employers pages for NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) are specified in the CSL policy.

No other expenses can be claimed through CSL as standard. Below are examples of excluded expenses, but the list is not exhaustive:

• Retrospective applications
• Examination fees
• Membership/subscription fees
• Credit card charges
• Conventions
• Ceremonies
• Equipment, incl. books
• Publication, abstract submission or printing costs
• Visas, application fees
• International travel, incl. flights
• Any costs where evidence of payment cannot be provided (i.e. receipts)

Please note that whether costs can be claimed or not is not affected by whether it is a standard (pre-approved) or Exception request; the above list applies regardless.