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

Log into your NHS LSF account, select TDAE and complete the online form. When you have submitted the claim, the status will be ‘Submitted to University’. The University will approve correctly completed claim forms within 10 working days of receipt. The status will change to ‘Submitted to NHS BSA’. Forms that are not completed correctly will be ‘returned to student’ or ‘Rejected’ and resubmission will be required. This will be communicated with you through the portal. Please note if a claim is returned you will be directed to the section/s where there is action required.

Once the NHS BSA has approved your claim you should receive your payment from the NHS BSA within 10 working days. You can track the progress of the claim in your online account. The status will change to ‘Paid’.

If the NHS BSA have ‘Rejected’ the claim the reason will be provided in the ‘claims notes and history’. If the NHSBSA require more information the status will be ‘Returned from NHSBSA’ – this may require action by the University and/or the student.

University staff who check your claim must countersign a declaration before submitting it to the NHS BSA. They are signing as ‘a registered employee of the higher education institution that the student attends, and I have authority agreed by this higher education institution to countersign Travel and Dual Accommodation Expense claims.  I understand and accept that if I provide false or misleading information, I may be liable to prosecution and/or civil proceedings.’ 

The declaration includes the following statements: 

1. The practice placement/s for which the student is claiming the Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses were essentially incurred as part of the overall programme requirements. 
2. The expenses detailed in this claim form have been reasonably and necessarily incurred in accordance with the provisions of the policy. 
3. The student’s normal daily travel to university costs have been deducted.
4. I have checked the claim and, to the best of my knowledge, confirm that the expenses being claimed are correct. 

Reasons why we will return a TDAE claim

• You have not submitted all the required evidence e.g., bus/train tickets, parking tickets, hire car invoice, accommodation invoice, hire car authorisation – this needs to be uploaded where indicated in the online form. 
• You have claimed travel for dates that you have an absence recorded on your PARE timesheet. 
• You have only recorded the one-way distance from home to campus – this needs to be a return journey. The system currently does not automatically multiply the distance as it does for placement travel. 
• 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. *see below for examples of exceptions for mileage being different 
• Parking evidence does not match the date for the claim and/or the amount. 
• We cannot validate your placement attendance on PARE as the shifts are not signed off. If your PARE timesheet has not been signed off by someone in practice, then you will need to upload alternative proof of attendance e.g. copy of the e-rosta information. 
• There is not enough information about the reasons for using a hire car. It is not enough to just include the email confirmation from the PU regarding the collection of the car.  Evidence must also be provided to show that the hire car was necessary. e.g. could not access shift in time via public transport or the journey by public transport would take longer than 90 minutes. 
• The accommodation invoice does not have your own name on it. If accommodation was booked and paid for on your behalf by the University, then you need to submit the University invoice as this will include all required information (student name, dates and nightly cost). If you booked and paid for the accommodation yourself, you will need to go back to the provider and ask for an invoice/receipt with your name on it.  
• You have claimed you receive a lift to university but have provided no detail. The NHS BSA requires you to add a comment about how the lift was arranged and if you are making any financial contribution. 
• You have not correctly claimed Community Mileage. If you are travelling within your placement day and wish to claim mileage you need to select on ‘Your Placement Travel Costs’ screen both driving and community mileage. This will allow you to record the return mileage to placement based on your address and the placement address and then make a separate entry for total community miles within that day. You are advised to keep a note each day from your milometer in order to correctly claim. You are not required to note addresses due to patient confidentiality.  

Examples of exceptions for mileage being different

• If there is a rationale for the mileage being different to google maps then you need to provide an explanation in the comments, for example, there was a road closure on a certain date.  
• If you undertook a spoke the address needs to be included in the placement comments within “Your Placement Travel Costs, including the post code of the spoke placement.
• If you attended trust training at another site this should be recorded as a spoke and the full address added.  The day in the comments should be referred to as “trust clinical learning” or “trust clinical learning set” to ensure that it’s clear that it was not HEI delivered training. 

Reasons why we will reject a TDAE claim

• 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
• We do not have a placement record on InPlace for the dates you are claiming for.
• Duplicate claim – you have already claimed for the costs

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.

You are also able to start a claim and save for later ‘claim started’ 

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

Costs incurred from the use of private hire vehicles such as taxis are not covered under this Scheme and students will only be reimbursed for the cheapest method of transport available to them.

If you are unable to travel to your placement site on a daily basis using public transport, there are provisions to claim for the cost of temporary accommodation near to your clinical practice site instead, where this is the most cost effective method.

Claims for taxis are unlikely to be reimbursed at the full cost and NHS BSA may request information on the equivalent public transport or mileage rate instead. There would need to be unexpected, mitigating circumstances e.g cancelled public transport, or a one-off or occasional taxi journey was the only way for you to travel to placement e.g. a night shift on a Sunday and reduced public transport service.

The use of taxis for an entire placement will not be considered.

Any claims for taxi travel need to be authorised by the University. NHS BSA will ask you to provide the name of the person who authorised the taxi travel, the reason for travel, and evidence of authorisation. If you feel you have a valid reason for taxi travel, you need to complete a Taxi Authorisation Request Form