NHS Learning Support Fund Information

Introduction

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) manage the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF). This is funding to support eligible healthcare students during their course.

If you're eligible, you can get:

• a Training Grant of £5,000 per academic year
• money back for excess travel and temporary accommodation costs (Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses) while you're on your practice placement

Students wishing to apply for the funding should visit https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund.

Eligible students should continue to apply for the Learning Support Fund as needed.

If you’re experiencing unforeseen financial hardship, you may be able to claim up to £3,000 through the Exceptional Support Fund. 

Eligible students facing financial hardship who have exhausted all other available sources of funding - including university hardship support (where this is available) can apply for additional help from the Exceptional Support Fund (ESF). Further information and how to apply can be obtained here.

Exceptional Support Fund: Student Journey.

Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) are responsible for any decisions about whether a claim should be paid or not, the University has no control over this process. Students are advised to contact the NHS Business Services Authority if they are in any doubt about what they can claim. It is recommended that students contact the NHS Business Services Authority before incurring any expense.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund/travel-and-dual-accommodation-expenses

Completed forms must be submitted to the University to be verified prior to the University submitting the information to the NHS Business Services Authority.

The University will process correctly completed claim forms within 10 working days of receipt. We will inform you by email when we submit your claim to NHSBSA for processing. Once your claim has been passed on to NHSBSA you will need to track its progress via your LSF account. The NHS Business Services Authority will process correctly completed claims within 30 working days of receipt.

Forms that are not completed correctly will be rejected and resubmission will be required.

The Placement Unit (PU) have designed an online form version of the NHS LSF Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE) Form which when submitted will automatically be emailed to PLUStudents@cumbria.ac.uk

The aim of this online form is to make submission easier for the student, and to reduce the number of amendments required prior to the PU submitting the verified information to the NHS for reimbursement. The form contains required fields and has formulas embedded to aid with calculations and to combat common errors made.

You will also need to submit the following with the form:

• Section 5 - Details of Travel to Placement is an excel spreadsheet which needs to be completed and uploaded into the online form. The calculations from this will inform your entries in Section 7 - Summary of costs.
• Evidence of car hire and accommodation should be uploaded into the form as a single document.
• Evidence of public transport tickets, parking tickets etc. from Section 5 should also be uploaded in a separate single document in date order.

All uploaded evidence will be submitted as an email attachment when the form is completed.

If you are submitting the TDAE form available via your LSF account, please email it to PLUStudents@cumbria.ac.uk from your university email address with all required evidence.

Placement Unit TDAE Forms

For placements from 1 September 2023

NHS LSF TDAE Section 5 Travel to Placement

Guidance for completing the form

Demonstration video - completing a TDAE claim

Reasons why we will reject a TDAE claim

• Student has used an NHS Bursary claim form not an LSF TDAE claim form. If the form asks you to input your BRN number, it is not the correct form. You should be asked to input your SSRN number - Our online form version removes this potential error.
• Student has used the expenses form designed for Education students.
• Student has not dated and signed the declaration – our online form version removes this potential error.
• Student has used the incorrect mileage rate - the current rate is 42p per mile
• Student has submitted a claim for dates more than 6 months ago – NHSBSA will only reimburse for placements costs incurred up to 6 months from the last date on the claim e.g., if you submit a claim covering dates 1/2/23 - 28/2/23 on 1/9/23 it will be rejected as it has been more than 6 months since the 28/2/23
• Student has submitted a claim for dates in the future – You cannot submit expenses before the date has occurred, for example, you submit a claim on the 24^th of the month but the accommodation period or the journeys cover 10^th – 26^th you would need to resubmit the claim no earlier than the last date you are claiming for so 26^th
• You have not submitted all required evidence e.g., bus/train tickets, parking tickets, hire car invoice, accommodation invoice – this needs to be sent via email with the LSF form or uploaded where indicated in the online form
• You have not listed the individual dates you are claiming travel expenses for in Section 5 – this needs to be uploaded where indicated in the online form using the spreadsheet provided
• You have claimed travel for dates that you have an absence recorded
• There is a discrepancy in the calculations – our online form version reduces this potential error with imbedded calculations.
• There is a discrepancy with the recorded mileage compared to google maps - you should use the shortest journey by A roads or motorway e.g. from Lancaster to Blackpool it is 68.2 miles return using M6 and M55 but only 48.2 miles return by A6. Even if you travelled by motorway, you must only claim the shortest journey mileage which is via the A6, unless you have evidence that there was no way to travel on the A6.
• We do not have a placement record on InPlace for the dates you are claiming for.

When to Submit

Claims need to be received by the NHS BSA within 6 months of the placement end date, but it is better to submit at the end of the placement rather than holding on for a few months.

Frequency of claims

There are no rules regarding frequency of claims but the Placement Unit kindly request that:

• Claims for public transport are submitted weekly or fortnightly, rather than one claim at the end of a placement block as it is easier to manage the evidence in smaller chunks.
• Mileage claims, including parking costs (evidence required) can be submitted regularly throughout the placement or at the end but we request you submit them soon after the placement has finished.
• If the University has paid up front for accommodation or hire car on your behalf, you must submit the claim as soon as you receive the invoice from the University, as you have a 60-day payment period. You need to pay the university invoice as soon as you receive the reimbursement from the NHS BSA.
• If you have funded accommodation or a hire car yourself then submit the claim once the date of the booking has ended so you can receive reimbursement – don’t forget your evidence.

Travel by Taxi

NHS BSA will not normally reimburse any costs you incur if you choose to travel to placement by taxi unless there were unexpected, mitigating circumstances and a one-off or occasional taxi journey was the only way for you to travel to placement. Any claims for taxi travel need to be authorised ahead of time by the University. If you feel you have a valid reason for taxi travel, you need to complete a Taxi Authorisation Request form.