Workforce, training and education
East Midlands

Requesting Leave

For information regarding Study Leave expenses, please see our dedicated Expenses page (www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/Study_Leave/LeaveManager/Expenses)

Approved Courses/Events

Each School and Programme has prepared a list of pre-approved events (courses, events or Royal College exams where appropriate) for trainees in their School to attend. The full list of approved events has been added to Leave Manager so that applicants may select the appropriate event from a menu when requesting leave. You can also see the full list on our Resources & Guidance page. Please note that this is a live document and is regularly updated by Schools/Programmes, so we recommend not printing this/sharing over email and instead always checking the version on our website.

Activities classed as Curriculum Requirement or Curricular Support for your Programme and Grade are called ‘Standard Applications’.

Standard Applications

These can be submitted wherever the activity is classed as a Curriculum Requirement or Curricular Support on the Approved Events list, and is preapproved for your Programme and current Grade. This will also be replicated in the initial drop-down menu when you go to submit a leave request. These activities only require the approval of your Rota Coordinator/JDA/local equivalent (and your Programme Office, if you are in a GP training programme).

If the activity is not on the approved list for your Programme and Grade, you will need to submit an Exception application.

Exception Applications

This will be required for any activity classed as Discretionary on the Approved Events list, or one that is simply not included as an approved event for your Programme and current Grade. Once the application has been authorised by your Rota Approver (Rota Coordinator/JDA/local equivalent), it will then be automatically escalated to your Educational (Exception) approver (who will be your TPD/Head of School as appropriate). Please note that your Exception Approver will not be able to see the request until/unless it has been authorised by your Rota Coordinator/JDA/local equivalent.

Foundation Year 2 Exception Leave

For doctors in Year 2 Foundation training, there is facility to use some of your Taster Leave towards attending Exception activities (i.e. activities outside of your curriculum requirements), including courses and specialty exams. If this applies to you, you must discuss your request with your Educational Supervisor and local FTPD who can advise whether this is appropriate for you in your circumstances and your current progression within the programme. If both agree that this is appropriate then you can submit this as an Exception request on Leave Manager. Five days of external leave is allocated to each FY2 applicant automatically, to use for this purpose, including taster leave. If you require more than five days of study leave, please contact us (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net) so that we can update your entitlements. Please note that neither foundation school will grant study (taster) leave for exam preparation.

The School has also provided some specific guidance relating to Foundation CPD.

Relevant policies/guidance

How can I access Accent Leave Manager?

Accent Leave Manager is available online at https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/

It is compatible with Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Please note that Accent cannot be accessed properly using Internet Explorer, which has been discontinued by Microsoft. Please ensure that your device is set to UK time. 

Can you show me how to apply?

Yes – we have a video in the HEE East Midlands Study Leave catalogue on the NHS Learning Hub, "Accent Leave Manager: Applying for leave and expenses": this takes you through the application process, including applying for expenses.

I am unable to log in – how do I obtain login credentials?

You can request your login details from the Accent homepage at any time: go to https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/ and click on ‘Forgotten password’ – type in the email address that you have registered with NHSE (the address held on the Trainee Information System, TIS) and click Send reset password link. Your login credentials will then be emailed to you from NoReply@hicom.co.uk - you may need to check your junk/spam folder as your email provider may filter the email.

If you do not receive login credentials, email England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net with your first name, surname, GMC/GDC number and preferred email address.  Please put “Trainee Login Request” in the subject.

The system won’t let me apply – why is this?

There are a number of rules built into Accent. For example, if you are trying to submit a retrospective application (ie an activity that starts on the day you're applying or before), the system will not allow you to do so as retrospective applications are not permitted; this will give you a validation error as "There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement".

Also, if you try to apply for a course that costs more than your available budget, you won’t be able to apply for the full cost. You should only apply for the amount of money you have left (or less).  The same applies to the number of days you have left.

In order to apply, you must first be in a post on Accent; your post must have Approvers (eg Rota Co-ordinator/JDA) recorded against it (otherwise the post will show as 'There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement.') and finally your entitlement/budget must be recorded (you can check this in the My Entitlements and My Budgets sections of your account).

If you suspect some of this has not been done, please contact NHSE at England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net.

My placements are wrong/missing; who do I contact?

Placements are all managed by our Programmes Team; please contact the team on the appropriate address below:

I want to submit a retrospective request

Per the Study Leave Policy, all study leave must be applied for in advance of the leave taking place: you will not be able to submit a retrospective leave request on Accent, and will trigger this error. If you are attempting to submit a leave request for an activity that has already taken place, please email StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk, confirming the following:

  • Your name
  • Your GMC/GDC number (if applicable)
  • The date/s of the leave
  • The activity you are applying for
  • A breakdown of any expenses you wish to claim
  • The venue, course provider, and any other details to be included in your application
  • The reason/s why your request was not submitted prospectively.
I've had the error "There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement"!

This can mean one of two things.

Firstly, please check the dates of your leave. Per the Study Leave Policy, all study leave must be applied for in advance of the leave taking place. You will not be able to submit a retrospective leave request, and will trigger this error. Please correct the dates of your study leave. If you are attempting to submit a leave request for an activity that has already taken place, please email StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk, confirming the following:

  • Your name
  • Your GMC/GDC number (if applicable)
  • The date/s of the leave
  • The activity you are applying for
  • A breakdown of any expenses you wish to claim
  • The venue, course provider, and any other details to be included in your application
  • The reason/s why your request was not submitted prospectively.

If the dates are correct and are not retrospective, this usually means that Leave Approvers are not set up for this post. This may be because it is a new post number (Leave Approvers are attached to post numbers). Please contact the NHSE team (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net) who can investigate and set up the approvers as appropriate.

How do I check my study leave entitlements?

Once you've logged into your Leave Manager account, go to My Entitlements (for your study leave days, https://accent.hicom.co.uk/LeaveManager/Live/Web/MyEntitlements/Index). Look for the current training year (this will normally be at the top of each section).

As a reminder, the study leave year runs from changeover date in August to the changeover date the following August except for programmes with nationally agreed start dates in September, where the leave year is September to September. This applies regardless of individual trainees’ progression dates.

What do the different Leave Types mean?

“Private” leave is for private exam revision, in the run-up to an exam. You’re entitled to a maximum of 5 Private leave days a year, and this comes out of your Discretionary entitlement. Please note that Foundation trainees cannot apply for Private leave, as exams are not part of the Foundation curriculum. Please note that you cannot apply for expenses for Private leave, as it must only be used for days when you are revising privately yourself (and therefore should not incur any costs).

“Exam” leave is for attending exams, and comes out of your Curriculum required entitlement if the exam is required for your curriculum. If the exam is not required for your curriculum, it will come from your Discretionary entitlement.

“Study” leave is for everything else.

How do I apply for an online course?

You can apply for online courses or conferences in the same way as you would for a face-to-face course. When applying for an online course, please ensure that you specify the venue to "Online".

I missed adding expenses/there's an error on my leave request; what should I do? Should I cancel the leave?

Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for.

Leave requests can no longer be edited once they have been submitted on Leave Manager as they are under review/have been approved by your approvers on the basis of the information you have provided.

If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact NHSE (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net) with the details you need changing (including the breakdown of expenses, e.g. course fees, public transport, accommodation, mileage), and we can amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

How do I cancel a leave request?

Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for. If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact NHSE (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net), and we may be able to amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

In order to cancel a leave request that you have submitted but you will no longer be attending the activity, please follow the below instructions. Please note that cancelled leave requests cannot be reinstated, so be certain that you need to cancel the request:

  1. Login to your Leave Manager account (at https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/)
  2. Go to My Applications
  3. Click on the leave request that you want to cancel to open it
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page
  5. Click Cancel application. This will send a notification to your Cancellation Approver (usually your rota coordinator or local equivalent) to acknowledge the cancellation.
I've cancelled a leave request but the days/money is still coming out of my entitlements!

Cancellations must be acknowledged by your leave approvers before they are released back to you. If you need the time/budget back urgently and your leave approvers are not responding, please contact NHSE (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net).

Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for. If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact us, and we may be able amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

I am LTFT/on maternity leave/started part way through the year/post-CCT/OOP - how does this affect my study leave entitlement?
  • As with annual leave Less Than Full-time Trainees (LTFT) receive study leave days pro-rata to a whole time trainee in any one calendar year. If the planned number of study leave days in any one year will exceed the entitlement available, this may be increased on a case-by-case basis subject to written (emailed to StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk) approval from your TPD/Head of School for specific activities (i.e. you must have a clear plan of how you will use your days, rather than just requesting an additional X days).
  • If you are in GP/specialty training in an East Midlands Trust post, you can access the uncapped budget regardless of being LTFT for as long as you are in that post. This does not apply to Foundation doctors, Dentists, or GP trainees in GP placements.
  • Trainees on maternity leave will receive a reduced entitlement for their maternity leave period.
  • Trainees who start or complete their training part way through the study leave year will receive a pro-rata entitlement until the end of the leave year. This also applies to trainees who start in February.
  • Entitlement to study leave ends once a trainee reaches CCT and trainees are not entitled to study leave during the Period of Grace.
  • Trainees on Out of Programme Experience (OOPE), Out of Programme Research (OOPR) or Out of Programme Career Break (OOPC) are not entitled to study leave for the period they are out of programme. Trainees on Out of Programme Training (OOPT) are normally only entitled to study leave for this period if they are occupying a training post on a training programme in our region.

 

The number of days allocated to me is not what I expected.  Why is this?

If your entitlement on Leave Manager does not match the figure on the policy, and you are not affected by any of the factors above, please contact us.

Can I 'transfer' days from Curriculum required to Discretionary (or vice versa)?

The Curriculum required/Discretionary split is set at the beginning of the academic year by your TPD, based on the most appropriate distribution for all trainees on the programme.

However, we recognise that some trainees may have different needs. If you feel that you need more of one type of days and less of the other, please contact your TPD to discuss this. If they are supportive, please ask them to email England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net to confirm the number of days to be 'transferred', and we will update Leave Manager accordingly.

I have changed my email address who should I inform?

Trainee details are primarily managed by our Programmes Team; please contact the team on the appropriate address below:

I have forgotten my login details, how can I access the system?

You can request your login details from the Accent homepage at any time: go to https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/ and click on ‘Forgotten password’ – type in the email address that you have registered with NHSE (the address held on the Trainee Information System, TIS) and click Send reset password link. Your login credentials will then be emailed to you from NoReply@hicom.co.uk - you may need to check your junk/spam folder as your email provider may filter the email.

If you do not receive login credentials, email England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net with your first name, surname, GMC/GDC number and preferred email address.  Please put “Trainee Login Request” in the subject.

How will I know if my application is approved?

You will receive an automated email and notification on Accent stating your application has been approved or declined. You will be able to monitor the progress of your request at any time on Accent under the My Applications section. Where provided, approvers’ notes are recorded against their decisions – it is important you read these as there may be some important information for you.

Is there someone I can talk to about my request?

Each organisation will have a Study Leave Co-ordinator. A full list can be found on our Getting Support page (www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/study_leave/GettingSupport).

My Exception approver (TPD/Head of School) can’t see the leave request!

There are two possible reasons for this:
1. TPD/Head of School approval is only required for Exception applications; it's not required for Standard applications (i.e. curriculum required activities).
2. The Exception approver (TPD/Head of School) doesn't see leave requests until/unless it's been approved by the rota coordinator/JDA/practice manager/local equivalent. If your TPD/Head of School can't see your Exception request, it's worth checking that it's been approved by the rota coordinator/etc. first.

Can I appeal this process?

Yes; please refer to the Study Leave Policy

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