Healthcare Science – Commissioning Process
The NHS England online portals for requesting funding for STP, HSST and ETP posts are now open. Those of you who are familiar with the portal from previous years will notice that the process has been reviewed. We have attached the ‘Healthcare Science – Expressions of Interest 2024’ guidance which will explain the changes and why we have made them. Please do take time to read the guidance as it will help in completing the portal and will take you through what to expect after submission.
The submission of your request will be used to assess whether a request to host a trainee in 2024 is supported by the region and is not an automatic guarantee of funding. We have included information on the expected funding arrangements below, however this is subject to confirmation of funding to NHS England.
Links to the portals can be found at the foot of this letter.
Scientist Training Programme (STP) Funding Arrangements
The national job description for clinical scientist trainees specifies that training posts should be salaried at NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) Band 6. In line with the nationally agreed approach to supporting STP trainees, NHS England will provide salary support for each STP post (both in-service and direct entry) for the duration of the 3-year programme.
Funding for trainees commencing the programme will be at the bottom of Band 6, confirmed AfC rate, for the financial year, (plus on-costs). Funding will increase in line with Agenda for Change rates and will be for the duration of the 3-year programme.
STP Educational Training Support
NHS England will provide the employer with £2,000 per training post, each year for the duration of the three-year programme, to support completion of the academic components of the training programme. This funding will be included in the organisation’s Educational Contract along with the salary support for trainees.
The primary purpose of this funding is to enable the employer to support travel and accommodation expenses that might be incurred by the trainee whilst completing the academic components of the training programme. Funding cannot at present be utilised to fund specific elective modules or to procure IT equipment which should be provided to trainees by their employer to support any remote/home working requirements.
HSST Funding Arrangements
NHS England will provide a training allowance of £13,260 per HSST trainee, each year for the duration of the five-year programme. This is to support the costs associated with training. There will be no further support provided for additional salary payments or travel and accommodation costs.
Note: NHS England will fund the tuition costs directly with universities for all commissioned STP and HSST programmes.
ETP Funding Arrangements
In line with the nationally agreed approach to supporting ETP trainees, NHS England will provide salary support for each training post for the duration of the 18-month programme.
NHS England funding for trainees commencing the programme in September 2023, will be at the bottom of Band 6, confirmed Agenda for Change (AfC) rate, for the financial year, (plus on-costs).
NOTE: NHS England will fund the tuition costs directly with universities for the ETP
ETP Educational Training Support
To support completion of the academic component of the training programme, NHS England will provide the employer with £2,000 per training post, per full academic year. This will be pro-rata’d to £1,000 in year two of the programme as only six months of training is required. Funding will be included in the organisation’s Educational Contract along with the salary support for trainees.
Commissioning Timeline
Please see the attached guidance ‘Healthcare Science – Expressions of Interest 2024’ for details.
The links to the STP/HSST portal is: https://healtheducationyh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/healthcare-science-stphsst-demand-scoping-2024-2028-co-5
The link to the ETP portal is: https://healtheducationyh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/healthcare-science-2024-2028-demand-scoping-echocardiog-5
If you have any queries at all, please contact your NHS England regional office.