In the past, histopathology trainees in the West Midlands were employed by their host trust for the duration of their attachment. This meant that trainees were required to submit all their employment and occupational health paperwork each time they moved to a new trust.
To simplify matters, all histopathology trainees in the West Midlands are now employed by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (now called Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching hospitals) for the duration of their training.
This means that all employment and occupational health paperwork will need to be submitted only at the beginning of training; the lead employer will manage pay and all issues related to occupational health. Host trusts may still require that trainees undertake induction.
Information about the lead employer is here.
All payslips are provided centrally by the lead employer and uploaded to the NHS ESR system.
The system is accessible here. Login details should have been provided to you by the lead employer. Otherwise, you can retrieve your login details from the website.
The amount of annual leave to which trainees are entitled depends on your years of service in the NHS. Usually this is 27 days for those who have worked 0-5 years in the NHS and 32 days for those who have worked 6 years and more. you should be informed of your leave entitlement in your Contract of Employment. This is for full time trainees and LTFT trainees will have deducted days from this dependent on their percentage of working.
The process of booking annual leave is governed by your Trust's policy. If you are on annual leave when you are due to attend regional teaching, you should inform the Trainee Rep in advance.
Trainees are entitled to 30 days of study leave each year. 15 days of this are ring-fenced for the regional teaching programme. Please apply for study leave prospectively using the Accent leave manager as per deanery website: https://www.westmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/support/trainees/study-leave/accent-leave-manager-applying-for-study-leave
Please ensure you have applied for estimated expenses when you are applying for study leave and after you've been on the study leave course, ensure you send a relevant form (found here https://www.westmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/support/trainees/study-leave/study-leave-reimbursement) to the relevant trust contact as per https://www.westmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/support/trainees/study-leave/trust-contacts
HMRC has confirmed that trainees can claim tax relief for the cost of exams (i.e. OSPE/Year 1 Assessment, Part I and Part II). Submit a P87 form to claim. Claims can be back-dated several years, and can also be made for GMC, MPS/MDU, Royal College and BMA membership fees.
Trainees are also eligible for NUS membership.
For all queries please make sure "FAO Histopathology West Midlands Team" is in the subject heading
General queries:
0151 478 7777
Payroll queries:
same as above number and press option 4
Pension queries:
same as above number and press option 5
Expenses queries:
0151 676 5323