Medical school partnerships can  apply to have locally funded ACF and CL posts recognised as being equivalent to NIHR posts. In these instances, all the funding for the post (clinical and academic) is provided by the Medical School/NHS Trust (or a combination of both). 

 These posts can be created at an institutional (rather than speciality specific) level and historically have either been funded: 

-100% HEI 

-50% HEI 50% NHS Trust 

-50% HEI 50% HEE 


HEE London and KSS approach 

Where there is 100% local funding (either HEI or HEI+NHS Trust with no dependence on MADEL funding) applications will be approved provided that the relevant academic TPD and HEE London/KSS Head of School can provide assurance of clinical training capacity, post suitability and supervision and the relevant NIHR paperwork completed. In this situation the locally funded panel will still review the applications however approval is highly likely.   

 

For applications requesting access to HEE funding, HEE London and KSS will prioritise applications which support the programmes listed above. 

 

HEE London and KSS will also need to consider alongside any application the impact on the overall training numbers where they may be subject to change in line with outputs from the Long-Term Plan. 


HEE London and KSS will consider applications for locally funded academic training posts which support the programmes listed below:

•           Cancer Workforce plan

•           Emergency Department workforce plan

•           Maternity and Neonatal services

•           Mental Health Workforce plan

•           Population Health

HEE London and KSS will also need to consider alongside any application the impact on the overall training numbers where they may be subject to change in line with outputs from the Long Term Plan.

In addition, HEE London and KSS may consider applications for locally funded academic training posts which demonstrate the following:

•           Are a recruitment incentive for clinically underfilling specialities or localities 

•           Ability to drive up trainee quality within programmes

Principles 

  • All posts must be advertised nationally. 

  • CLs should closely mimic the NIHR offer, including the potential year of post-CCT research. 

  • Trainees appointed to locally funded 50% HEI 50% HEE ACFs/CLs will be placed in existing HEE tariff funded clinical posts. 

  • Trainees appointed to locally funded 100% HEI or 50% HEI 50% HEE Trust ACFs/CLs will be placed in ‘in addition’ posts. 

  • There must be adequate training capacity within the clinical training programme to accommodate the academic trainee for the duration of the entire programme including all linked trusts for that clinical programme. 

  • Numbers of locally funded posts may alter over time. 

  • HEE funded local CL posts should provide identical terms and conditions to NIHR posts (usually, NIHR will be asked to provide “NIHR badging”). 


Applications for London will be reviewed by the HEE London Academic Associate Dean who will make a recommendation to the London lead Postgraduate Dean for Academic Training to ratify.   Applications for KSS will be reviewed by the KSS Postgraduate Dean.

The outcome of applications will usually be conveyed to HEI applicants within 4-weeks of the application being received.  

Approved applications will be allocated to an academic recruitment window by the Healthcare Education Team in consultation with the HEI IAT lead and the HEE specialty academic training programme director.

 

When agreeing to provide funding for either a matched or locally funded post, the following information is required, in the form of a letter signed by the relevant Director of Finance:

  1. Confirmation that funding will be available for the maximum length of the post. (3 years for ACF and 4 years for CL).
  2. Confirmation that the funding will be at the appropriate level.
  3. Confirmation that the funding will also include a £1,000 per annum bursary (which matches the bursary provided by NIHR for the posts they fund).
A NIHR proforma for applying for locally funded ACF or CL posts to be recognised can be obtained from the IAT Team. 


Approval process 

Applications for London will be reviewed by a panel comprising: 

  • HEE London Academic Associate Dean (chair) 

  • 2 Deputy postgraduate deans  

  • External academic representative 

  • Healthcare Education Team representative 

 

The panel will meet on a quarterly basis to review any applications received.  It will also receive comments/feedback on the bids from the relevant academic TPD and Head of School.