One of our trainee doctors has told us they want to work flexibly. What paperwork should they and we complete?

The trainee will need to contact the London Deanery for an eligibility form in the first instance.

If they are eligible, funding will be reserved for them from the start date of their flexible training which they will have indicated on their eligibility form.

Once they have returned the eligibility form – and assuming they are eligible - they will then have received a Flexible Training Approval Form which both they and your Trust will need to complete.

Receipt of an approval form means that the trainee is eligible and funding has been reserved for them.

What will it cost the Trust to employ a flexible trainee?

That greatly depends on what type of flexible training they will be undertaking.

If the trainee is working reduced sessions in a full-time post, then there is no funding due from the flexible training budget to your Trust. This is because the training post that the flexible trainee occupies is already fully funded from the MADEL (Medical and Dental Education Levy). The cost to the Trust may therefore be nil as the funding for the full-time post is already in place but the trainee is working less than full time.

The trainee may be slot-sharing – that is, two flexible trainees will share a training post. The training post will again be fully funded from the MADEL so one trainee’s costs can be covered from that source while the London Deanery will make a funding contribution towards the second trainee at the mid-point of their pay scale. This may be financially advantageous for Trusts.

If the trainee is working as a supernumerary, then the London Deanery will make a funding contribution to your Trust at the mid-point of the trainee’s payscale. As with other flexible trainees the Trust will be responsible for paying banding and out of hours.

Your Trust is also responsible for paying on-calls, sick leave and maternity leave. The Deanery will make a contribution towards the cost of maternity leave for every flexible trainee who goes on maternity leave while employed by your Trust. The amount is £12000 per flexible trainee.

There is also a flexible training bonus scheme for Trusts so the more flexible trainees your Trust employs, the larger the bonus payable to them.

One of our trainees wants to work flexibly but there are service implications to having a less-than-full-time trainee in the training post. What are our options?

You should talk to the specialty’s Training Programme Director. If the Deanery is about to recruit into the specialty, then another full-time trainee can be interviewed for the programme and the post can be filled that way. If there is likely to be a long delay before the next Deanery recruitment round into the specialty then you can hire a LAT and the flexible trainee can take up a supernumerary post, assuming there is training capacity on the programme for this.

Please remember that any supernumerary flexible trainee needs to apply for educational approval for their post. Please read and ask the trainee to read the Flexible Training FAQ section of the London Deanery website.

One of our trainees is going on maternity leave/is on sick leave/has left the Trust. Who should be informed at the Deanery?

The trainee is responsible for letting their Training Programme Director know and should email the Flexible Training Team with the date of their last day of flexible training. However, this often doesn’t happen so if medical staffing or finance become aware that a trainee is not currently working at the Trust or has left completely, they should email the Flexible Training Team at the above email address to let us know.

We have a trainee who cannot work the minimum of five sessions per week but does not want to stop work altogether. What are their options?

The London Deanery has a Retainer Scheme where a trainee who needs a substantial amount of time away from work can work 2 sessions per week in order to stay in touch with their workplace and specialty. A trainee working under the Retainer arrangements can do so for 1 year and must be eligible for Category I flexible training. Sessions worked under the Retainer arrangements do not count towards training.

When do flexible trainees need to complete new Flexible Training Approval Forms?

Approval is granted for a 12-month period so at the very least a new form needs to be completed every year. The Flexible Training Office will often send a new form approximately 3 months before approval expires but it is the responsibility of the trainee to request a new form.

If the trainee changes the number of sessions per week that they work, changes hospital or changes their flexible training category e.g. moves from reduced sessions to slot-share, a new form will need to be completed.

Who establishes pay and banding levels?

Your Trust is responsible for this as the Trust is the employer of the trainee.

How does the Trust apply the funding for slot-share and supernumerary trainees?

A quarterly schedule showing the name and flexible training category of each flexible trainee your Trust employs is emailed to the Trust’s finance department and your Trust is requested to invoice the Deanery for the quarterly amount. The schedule is usually sent half-way through the quarter starting in April so schedule should be received in mid-May, mid-August, mid-November and mid-February.

The Deanery is not obliged to fund retrospectively and forms returned after the trainee has been in post for four weeks may mean that funding will not be paid for that quarter.

Flexible training approval forms received by the flexible training team that are incomplete or contradictory in the case of slot shares will be returned to the Trust.

Trust signatories for the flexible training approval forms must be nominees from the medical staffing and finance departments. The signatures of Unit Business Managers and clinicians are not normally acceptable.