Financial support and funding Return to Practice Programme

This page details the various funding and support options participants on the Return to Practice (RtP) programme are eligible for.

Funding

What support is available?

Participants on the RtP programme are eligible for funding as follows:

• If the doctor requires a Health and Care Worker visa to work in the UK during the clinical placement stage, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) will reimburse your employing practice for your salary costs. This will be equivalent to the monthly bursary currently available under the programmes.
• For doctors who have a right to residence in the UK, HEE will provide a bursary payment of up to £3,500 per month (full time) while on a clinical placement if working outside of London. Additional High Cost Areas supplement (HCAS) apply as appropriate
• Indemnity covered under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice but all GPs are advised to take out personal “Top Up” cover. Please read the FAQ’s section carefully as it explains what the scheme does and does not cover
• A Payment of up to £750 for costs of professional negligence cover while on the programme (effective from 1 August 2019)
• A one-off payment of up to £464 towards the costs of GMC membership and DBS fees.
• Reimbursement of up to £200 for occupational health check fees
• Up to four fully funded attempts at the assessment (subject to a pass)
• Reimbursement of Health and Care Worker visa fees for non-UK or those without existing Rights of Residence GPs and their dependents
• Help with finding a practice that can sponsor your Health and Care Worker visa if required
• One year's free associate membership to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)
• Access to training and other educational and development support
• Peer support networks, mentoring and coaching
• Access to a dedicated account manager
• Help towards the costs of child or social care.

All the available funding is only claimable upon commencing the RtP programme clinical placement.

Applicants may, in certain circumstances, qualify for additional support through the Cameron Fund.

Applicants will be eligible for a full-time bursary (37.5 hours per week) or pro-rata for part-time participation.

All other areas: £3,500 with hourly rate at £23.33
Full Time	Percent of Full time	Hours in RtP Programme	Claim
37.5	100%	37.5	£3,500.00
37.5	90%	33.75	£3,150.00
37.5	80%	30	£2,800.00
37.5	70%	26.25	£2,450.00
37.5	60%	22.5	£2,100.00
37.5	50%	18.75	£1,750.00
37.5	40%	15	£1,400.00

 

Fringe London additional 5% £3,646.83 with hourly rate at £24.31
Full Time	Percent of Full time	Hours in RtP Programme	Claim
37.5	100%	37.5	£3,646.83
37.5	90%	33.75	£3,282.15
37.5	80%	30	£2,917.46
37.5	70%	26.25	£2,552.78
37.5	60%	22.5	£2,188.10
37.5	50%	18.75	£1,823.41
37.5	40%	15	£1,458.73

 

Inner London additional 20% £4,064.75 with hourly rate at £27.10
Full Time	Percent of Full time	Hours in RtP Programme	Claim
37.5	100%	37.5	£4,064.75
37.5	90%	33.75	£3,658.27
37.5	80%	30	£3,252.00
37.5	70%	26.25	£2,845.32
37.5	60%	22.5	£2,438.85
37.5	50%	18.75	£2,032.37
37.5	40%	15	£1,626.00

 

Outer London additional 15% £3,895.25 with hourly rate at £25.97
Full Time	Percent of Full time	Hours in RtP Programme	Claim
37.5	100%	37.5	£3,895.25
37.5	90%	33.75	£3,505.72
37.5	80%	30	£3,116.02
37.5	70%	26.25	£2,726.67
37.5	60%	22.5	£2,337.15
37.5	50%	18.75	£1,947.62
37.5	40%	15	£1,558.01

How to claim your bursary

The bursary placement will be paid directly to you from the GPNRO.

In order to claim, you should follow the RtP programme finance process, detailed below.

RtP finance process

First time claimants must complete a Supplier setup form confirming their bank details to setup an HEE supplier account. Sections that are marked with an asterisk (*) are required to be completed.

It may take up to 4 - 6  weeks for the HEE supplier account to be created. Please note that without this account in place, payments cannot be made. SBS/Finance team will be in touch with you directly via phone call to confirm the details, of which they will make three attempts at contacting you before rejecting the account creation.

• Form A needs to be completed and submitted by local HEE offices to NRO, prior to the placement being commenced.
• Form B should be completed by your practice and submitted every four weeks. Ask your educational supervisor or practice manager to countersign the number of hours you have participated.
• Form C needs to be completed by you, as an RtP doctor, every four weeks.

You should complete a separate Claim Form C, with proof of payment, for

• DBS/GMC fees
• professional negligence cover costs
• occupational health costs

All forms should be sent to the GPNRO via email as attachments to the RtP team via email, in clear version, correct format and PDF attachment only.

Please note, all forms must be typed up. Handwritten forms are not accepted.

Depending on the creation of your supplier account it can take between 2 to 3 weeks for the first payment to be made. Subsequent payments may take up to 3 weeks to be paid. All the available funding is only claimable upon commencing the RtP placement.

Please note that RtP programme doctors are only eligible to claim the number of hours in the clinical placement within the agreed training placement contract and are not eligible to claim for bank holidays, annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, any additional time, etc.

Should any changes occur to the start, timing or breaks in the placement these must be notified to respective HEE local Lead and GPNRO immediately by email. Claimants are advised to keep a copy of all their completed forms.

Please note that the practice is not involved in the claim process other than to confirm the hours present.

It is the responsibility of the doctor receiving payment to declare all payments to HM Revenue and Customs.

Since it is a bursary for ‘educational’ purposes and doctors on the programme are not employed, the tax expert’s opinion NHSEI obtained suggests that HMRC does not consider this taxable income.

Support for parents and carers

Available funding

Funding is available for doctors on the IIP programme with:

• Children aged under 11 will be able to claim a total of £2000 towards the cost of childcare for each child whilst on the programme
• Other caring responsibilities may also claim a total of £2000 to meet the costs of providing care to a dependent in their absence whilst on the programme

Given that placement lengths on the programme vary, a maximum of £333 per month may claimed for each child under 11 or other dependent. This figure will be reduced on a pro-rata basis for those undertaking the programme on a part time basis.

The funding is in addition to the £3500 per month bursary and other funding that GPs on the programme can claim.

Eligibility

The funding can only be claimed for the duration of a supervised placement on the programme. It cannot be claimed for attending programme assessments or undertaking other activities associated with the programme.

Only doctors undertaking a supervised placement and receiving a bursary on the programme can claim the funding.

There is no maximum limit on the number of children under 11 or other dependents that can be claimed for under the programme.

Claiming the funding

GPs wishing to claim the funding each month should attach copies of relevant invoices to their GPNRO claims form each month specifying the exact amount being claimed for childcare or social care on their claims form.

For those claiming for childcare, a copy of each child’s birth certificate should also be attached as evidence that the child is under the age of 11.

Tax liabilities

It is the responsibility of each GP claiming the funding to confirm the impact of the payments on their own tax liabilities with HM Revenue and Customs.