Instructions for the Use of SAS & Specialty Doctors Development Funding

  1. This funding is designed to be used for the development of Staff Grade Doctors, Specialty Doctors and Associate Specialists who are in substantive posts.
  1. The funding should be used for the personal development of SAS & Specialty Doctors to support the appraisal and revalidation process and where applicable to provide experience to support application to the Specialist Register.
  1. The funding is not intended for and should not be used as a replacement for the normal Study Leave budget of Trusts.
  1. SAS doctors are encouraged to use their own Trust study leave budget before accessing the SAS development fund or innovation fund (when invited).
  1. The funding is not intended to be used to create or support Trust Doctor posts.
  1. It is recommended that each Trust should have an SAScommittee to consider applications for funding. The structure of the committee may be subject to local or regional variation but should include the SAS Tutor or equivalent. We suggest that members of this group should have a strong educational interest and background, e.g. including Clinical Tutor or Director of Medical Education, College Tutors etc. We would encourage SAS Doctors to be part of the committee.
  1. All SAS doctors applying for funding should provide the following:

-A cover letter (up to 500 words) explaining the benefit of the course applied for and how this relates to their PDP.

-Full details of the course applied for, including date and venue

-A supporting letter from the educational supervisor / clinical director

-Study leave form for any application for the SAS development fund

  1. An appeal system should be in place in each Trustfor SAS Doctors unhappy with the consideration of their application and the Associate Dean for SAS Doctors may be asked to arbitrate.
  1. The funding allocation is not to the individual SAS Doctors, which allows the funds to be used more flexibly. The Committee may allocate funding of up to £5,000 per Doctor in any one year. Any individual use of funding for sums of greater than £5,000 should be discussed with the Associate Dean for consideration of approval.
  1. The aspiration should be to ensure that all SAS Doctors utilise the funds rather than a few. All SAS Doctors should be informed of opportunities and the less articulate and less motivated Doctors in particular should be engaged.
  1. It is an essential requirement of HEEoE that feedback from courses facilitated by any funding from the SAS Budget must be submitted after completion of the course/ project.
  1. It is the responsibility of the SAS Tutors in each Trust to ensure that the local policy for the allocation of funds is in keeping with the Deanery recommendations.
  1. All spending needs to be recorded accurately, reported to the Deanery every six months and be accompanied by evaluation forms to justify the spending.
  1. If Trusts are not utilising the annual funding fully, the Deanery reserves the right reduce the amount of funding that the Trust is allocated in the next financial year or to reduce the funding within the financial year.
  1. If funding is allocated to a Doctor who then leaves before utilisingall of the budget, the remainder cannot be transferred to another Trust and will be reclaimed by HEEoE.
  1. Each Trust must ensure they claim their 6 monthly Funding Award as quickly as possible after receiving the award letter. Failure to claim within the Financial year will result in the budget being withdrawn, as it cannot be carried over within HEEoE.
  1. If an SAS Tutor leaves a Trust, responsibility for handing over funding returns must be allocated to the Trust or appropriate colleague. The Deanery and SAS Dean must be informed of who this person will be.
  1. If there is a gap period between submission of your Trust Financial Report and allocation of Funding notification, the SAS Tutor may commission courses they need to run early in the financial year. However, it is expected that the sum would be modest and any requirement for large financial commitment would be need to be approved by the Associate Postgraduate Dean for SAS.
  1. Each Trust needs to be aware that any SAS Development Fund Award made cannot be utilised or retained by them for other funding requirements. HEEoE clearly state that any balance in SAS Funding must be ‘ring-fenced’ and carried over to the new Financial Year. This value must also be included in the Financial return made to HEEoE on a yearly and half-yearly basis.

Uses

Funds should be used in the following ways:

  1. Local and regional training programs or days for SAS & Specialty Doctors, including Education & Development and activities to support appraisal and revalidation processes.
  1. Secondments and backfill to support personal development and to encourage successful applications through CESR
  1. Clinical management, leadership courses and other educational skills courses. e.g. PG Certificates, Diploma and Masters in Medical Education
  1. Worthy and innovative research projects
  1. Acquiring new skills which are relevant to the workplace.
  1. Training for extended roles, e.g. appraisers or educational supervisors.
  1. The funds may be used for overseas meetings that are felt to be an essential part of development for an SAS Doctor or e.g. to permit presentation at an international meeting, but are not intended to support extended overseas stays. This is in recognition of the fact that some SAS Doctors will be working at a level more comparable to that of a Consultant rather than a Junior Doctor.
  1. The funding should not be used to cover professional fees, such as examination fees or the fees required for applications to the Specialist Register.
  1. The funding should not be used for capital equipment including laptops, books and computers as such funding should come from Trust resources.
  1. Expenses for accommodation at training courses may be claimed up to maximum of £80 per night, for SAS doctors.Reimbursement for meals is as follows:

-Lunch allowance £5.00

-Evening meal allowance £10.00

-Meals allowance per 24 hour period £20.00

  1. Funding the role of the SAS Tutor. We would hope that recurrent funding for the role would be provided by the Trust in recognition of the importance of the role particularly as this Development Fund is not ring-fenced. However, we will allow the role to be funded from the Development Fund as an interim measure. The relevant PAs should be dependent upon the number of SAS Doctors in the Trust. The maximum amount we would recommend to be allocated is 1 PA, which should be reserved for those Trusts where the number of SAS Doctors for whom the Tutor is responsible is 50+. 0.5 PA may be allocated for those Tutors responsible for 20-30 Doctors with some local flexibility permitted.
  1. Funding for support for the SAS Tutor – there will be some administrative costs which might fall on the local Medical Education Centre team. Reasonable remuneration is appropriate. We would suggest that this be in the region of no more than 5-10% of the total funds allocated to the Trust.

1