School Student
What's surgery like?
Eligibility and funding
Eligibility
The postgraduate dean will establish whether the trainee is eligible for flexible training according to the criteria of well-founded individual reasons. To be eligible to train flexibly, you need to be a trainee and to obtain your training post in open competition with full time trainees. You must then demonstrate that you have well-founded individual reasons, which would render full-time training impracticable.
Reasons fall into two categories, which are detailed in NHS employers’ “Principles underpinning the new arrangements for flexible training”.
Category 1
Those doctors in training with:
- disability or ill health
- responsibility for caring (men and women) for children / dependants
Category 2
Those doctors in training with:
- unique opportunities for their own personal/professional development, e.g. training for national/international sporting events, or short term responsibility e.g. a national committee
- religious commitment – involving training for a particular religious role requiring time commitment
- non-medical professional development
In practice, men and women who perform childcare duties are the main group who take up flexible training within category 1. Other trainees in category 1 have equal access to funding, but funding is often not available to those with category 2 reasons.
Funding
Funding for flexible training is held by deaneries; it is not ring-fenced and so can be difficult to access and there are often long waiting lists.
Always suggest the option of part time in a full time slot as the funding is already there and dropping down to even 80% from full-time is often helpful. Some times it helps if you are able to do the full time on call.
If you are on a border with other deaneries, consider applying in the first place for the one with the best record on flexible training.
Supernumerary posts are more expensive to fund and consequently are limited in many regions. Job-shares are disapproved of by the BMA (one contract, one salary, all shared) and slot-shares preferred. These however require flexible funding, and each partner needs an NTN. A job-share partner (with no NTN) could be advertised for with Trust agreement. Try to give as much notice as possible of your plan to “go flexible” – at least 6 months is ideal.
