I am a Pathology trainee undertaking a short-term placement at another site - can I claim travel expenses?

Trainees in the School of Pathology are often required to undertake short-term (1-2 week) placements at other sites in order to complete an element of training. It has been agreed nationally that these expenses should now sit within the relocation/excess travel budget rather than the study leave budget. 

However, for ease of processing on the part of both trainees and Trusts we have agreed to continue to process these expenses as we have done previously, through Trust PGME teams and standard study leave policies, but now with a new approval code.

Going forwards, trainees should submit expense claims for these placements through the PGME team at their employing Trust, using the approval code RELOC0001, and following the usual guidance for a mandatory/optional study leave event (i.e. local approval by your educational supervisor). Usual study leave guidelines will apply to the expenses – these are detailed in our FAQ here, including the maximum overnight rate for accommodation.

Once the claims have been processed and reimbursed by your Trust, NHS England will then code these claims to your relocation budget rather than the study leave budget. You should therefore keep a record of the amounts claimed for these placements, as these will be recorded against your total relocation budget of £10,000.

Please contact the study leave team via the PGMDE support portal if you have any queries. 

If none of the FAQs have answered your question, please submit an enquiry to the team by clicking here