Leave Applicant (Postgraduate Doctors, Dentists, and other Learners)
Leave applicants are responsible for:
-
Familiarising themselves with the NHSE EM Study Leave policy and any relevant Trust/Practice policies.
- Submitting leave requests within an appropriate timeframe (6 weeks+) & including estimated expenses that will cover their needs.
- Contacting their local Study Leave Coordinator/NHSE proactively and prospectively if they have any issues doing so, or need anything amending.
- Managing their study leave days & budget appropriately and requesting changes proactively through the appropriate route (as per policy) as necessary.
- Submitting expenses claims with the required evidence and information in line with their employer’s process, and in an appropriate timeframe (within 8 weeks of completing the activity or, exceptionally, within 8 weeks of the leave request being fully approved; whichever is later).
Relevant policies/guidance
Find out about other people involved in approving study leave here: www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/Study_Leave/Roles
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.
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.
Unless you have contacted NHSE to update your contact email, your login email will be either the contact email address that you provided at recruitment (if you are new to training) or the contact email address used in your previous training programme. If you would like to update your login email, please contact NHSE's Programmes Team to update your email in TIS:
- For doctors in Foundation programmes: FoundationProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
- For doctors in General Practice programmes: GPProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
- For doctors in Public Health programmes: PublicHealth.Midlands@hee.nhs.uk
- For all other trainees on East Midlands training programmes: SpecialtyProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
Your login email is linked to your email address on NHSE's Trainee Information System (TIS). If you would like to update your login email, please contact HEE's Programmes Team to update your email in TIS:
- For doctors in Foundation programmes: FoundationProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
- For doctors in General Practice programmes: GPProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
- For doctors in Public Health programmes: PublicHealth.Midlands@hee.nhs.uk
- For all other trainees on East Midlands training programmes: SpecialtyProgrammes.EM@hee.nhs.uk
We have a YouTube video providing an introduction to Leave Manager, including a walkthrough of submitting a leave request:
“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 External 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 always comes out of your External entitlement.
“Study” leave is for everything else.
This error will appear for one of the following reasons:
- This error can occur if you attempt to apply for leave retrospectively: per the Study Leave Policy, all leave requests must be submitted prospectively. Please contact our team (StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk) and provide the following information so that we can consider your request:
- Study leave date/s
- Number of study leave days requested
- Activity name
- Venue
- Provider
- Breakdown of expenses (if applicable)
- The reason/s why the leave request was not submitted prospectively
- If your request is prospective (meaning it is for tomorrow or later) your approvers may not have been set up. This generally happens when a new post number has been created for you as part of an expansion project, and we have not been notified. Please email us (StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk) to confirm:
- The date/s of your planned leave:
- Your approver name:
- Your approver email:
Please complete the form on our website: https://www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/study_leave/International_Leave_and_Budget_Increases
When you submit your leave request on Accent, the system will automatically direct your leave request based on the approvers for your training post at the time:
- Sequence 5 - GP Programme Office (GP training programmes only)
- Sequence 30 - rota approver/s (JDA/Rota Manager/Practice Manager/Clinical Supervisor/etc)
- Sequence 35 - educational approver/s (TPD/HOS)
Except in very rare circumstances, only one person in each Sequence will need to approve the request for it to progress to the next Sequence (or if it's reached the final stage for the application, to be approved). Your TPD/HOS will only need to approve the request if it's not on the pre-approved list that they have agreed.
There are two possible reasons for this:
- The application hasn’t been approved by the Rota Approver yet
The Exception approver (TPD/Head of School) doesn't see leave requests until/unless it's been approved by the Rota Approver (Sequence 30). 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.
- TPD/Head of School approval is only required for ‘Recommended’ and ‘Aspirational’ activities
“Recommended” and “Aspirational” activities require the approval of the Rota Approver, followed by the Educational Approver, who will generally be the TPD or Head of School. They are both requested by completing the Aspirational event name box on Accent.
If you choose an activity from the standard Event dropdown, your HOS/TPD won't need to approve the request (as it's already educationally pre-approved).
Once you've submitted an application, go to the 'My Applications' page of your account (https://accent.hicom.co.uk/LeaveManager/Live/Web/MyApplications/Index) and open the request you want to check. Scroll down to Approval Chain at the bottom.
- A green tick will indicate anyone who has already approved your request, and whether the Sequence stage has been approved.
- Anyone with a pink/purple circle will currently be able to approve your request - you can contact them using the envelope icon next to their name.
- Anyone with a blue egg timer next to their name will not yet be able to see your request - it needs to be approved at an earlier Sequence stage.
These are two separate processes - the approval of your leave request includes approval of your estimated expenses, and is reflected in your leave being 'Approved'.
Your expenses will show as 'Pending' until they are processed by your Trust after the leave has taken place. Remember to submit your expense claim to your Trust: Accent does not currently support automatic processing of expenses.
For any queries about Accent Course Manager (https://accent.hicom.co.uk/CourseManager/Live/HEEM/Web), which is a different product to Leave Manager (although developed by the same company), please email FacultySupport.EM@hee.nhs.uk with the email subject "Course Manager query".