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Information For Fellows

The Future Leaders Programme offers Leadership Fellows a wide variety of learning opportunities, which can be tailored to the individual’s leadership learning needs. This page lists the most common FAQs 

Pages in this section:

Future Leaders Home | FLP Courses | Information for Supervisors | Future Leaders Recruitment

Contents

General Information and Expectations

Educational & Professional Development

Policies

Frequently Asked Questions

Contacts & Resources

General Information & Expectations

Expectations during your fellowship

We recommend you familiarise yourself with the induction pack which is intended to help prepare you for your fellowship and guide you in your first few months in post.

As a Fellow you are not just doing your own project, you have joined a programme.  This means you are expected to contribute to the wider Fellowship cohort.  This includes:

  • Attending the FLP bimonthly meetings.  Dates of these meetings will be given in August and Fellows need to do their upmost to attend.
  • Attendance and engagement with the courses provided by the FLP.  Each fellow will have different learning needs and may therefore wish to book either a select few, or all of the courses on offer.  The courses are costly to run and difficult to source elsewhere, so we suggest making the most of the opportunity.  Attendance at courses is monitored and waiting lists are in place.  There is an expectation that you contact the facilitator as well as the future leaders admin team well in advance if you are no longer able to attend, so the place can be offered to another fellow.  
  • Contributing to and attending the FLP conference. 
  • The FLP is a large fellowship scheme and we cannot know how your fellowship is going unless you tell us.  We expect all fellows to advise us promptly if there is a change in personal circumstances interfering with your ability to do your work, e.g a change in your supervisory relationship, a significant change in your project, a change in your health status, so that we can offer appropriate support.

By the end of your first month, Fellows need to:

For the FLP annual conference:

  • Fellows are expected to submit an abstract (summary) about their project and state what format they would like to present (usually poster or spoken presentation).  The conference is usually held in February / March – details will follow nearer the time.  

On completion of your Fellowship year, all Fellows are expected to:

  • Email the Post Summary form to the Fellows to the FLP.  This document will be used within the FLP annual report, which is published on our website.
  • Email a summary of any clinical work that has been undertaken. Residents must declare all locums undertaken on their Form R, as this is the formal record of their whole scope of practice.
  • Complete an online evaluation survey (a link will be emailed out) - this is anonymous and all feedback is used to develop the programme.  
  • Your host Trust and/or Educational Supervisor may have specific requirements about how your project work should be summarised (for example, via a project report). To ensure you are clear about expectations, you should discuss whether there are any specific requirements with your Educational Supervisor well before the end of your Fellowship.

You may also with to join our Future Leaders Alumni Linkedin site, to keep in touch with peers.

For medical, dental and public health residents: We advise all Fellows who are completing the programme via the OOPE route to read the following guidance. You may also wish to take a look at the Supported Return to Training (SuppoRTT) webpage.

Working Arrangements

The Future Leaders Programme (FLP) is a regional fellowship programme. Fellows are expected to be based within the Yorkshire and Humber region for the duration of their fellowship year. 

Fellows are expected to attend key programme activities in person. This includes attendance at bimonthly FLP meetings, the FLP annual conference, networking opportunities with peers, and face-to-face meetings with host organisations, project teams, supervisors, and stakeholders where required.

Working arrangements will vary between fellowship posts. Some roles require regular attendance at a host organisation's office or workplace, while others offer greater flexibility and make use of remote or hybrid working arrangements. However, regardless of the working pattern of the individual post, all fellows are expected to remain resident and working within the Yorkshire and Humber region throughout the fellowship year.

Adult Learning: What does it mean to be an adult learner?

One of the core principles of the FLP is that you are an adult learner.  What do we mean by this?

Adult learning refers to the process of you gaining knowledge, skills and competence during the year.  During your Future Leaders Fellowship we facilitate a range of learning opportunities: some formal & academic via your PGCert, some additional via the FLP curriculum, some informal through networking and your bimonthly meetings, and some through working practically on your project(s).  Rather than following a set curriculum with learning outcomes and workplace based assessments, during your fellowship you are responsible for identifying your own learning needs and how you are going to address them.  You will do this in discussion with your Educational Supervisor.  You may also want to discuss your development with a coach, mentor, peer mentor or FLP colleague.  The main ask here is that you are engaged in your own learning and responsive to your own needs.  Please also note that educational courses during the FLP are like any other professional activity, and therefore:

  • you are fully present, prepared and committed to learning
  • you are punctual and aware of the start and finish times
  • you are generous with your contributions and feedback, mindful that your input might help a fellow participants learning
  • you are clear and timely in your communication, particularly if your circumstances change affecting your ability to participate
  • you practice good stewardship of the resources given to you: you have your own study budget for the year and are considered in how you use it

Applying for your Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert)?

All Fellows are funded to undertake a postgraduate certificate (PG Cert) which is underpinned by leadership development. This means if you are not doing a PGCert explicitly in leadership, you need to choose something with a leadership module.The course needs to begin during the Fellowship and needs to fall within the allocated budget.

There is no entitlement to any particular amount of transferrable credits. Most Fellows report that the academic component of their Fellowship is more work than anticipated at the outset – it is therefore advisable to choose one Postgraduate Certificate or equivalent, in order to have adequate time to also focus on your Fellowship project.

For 2026-27 fellows, the course must be within the £3700 funding budget. If the course exceeds this amount, then part-funding will be agreed up to a maximum of £3700. Fellows should be mindful that their overall study budget for the duration of the Fellowship is £3700 and, therefore, if they choose to enrol on a PG Cert at this amount, they would not be eligible for any other funded study leave throughout the Fellowship.

For helpful information about choosing a course for the academic component, please see the Using your FLP budget document. The document includes helpful guidance as well as a list of academic or PG Cert courses that undertaken by the current cohort - the list is not exhaustive and the FLP does not endorse any of the courses.  We would encourage you to speak to current or alumni fellows to help guide you in your choice of PG Cert.

Once you have chosen your PG Cert, we advise you discuss this with your Educational Supervisor. If they are in agreement, please complete the PGCert Sponsorship Request Form. Please follow the link to access the PGCert Sponsorship Request Form. The form will be submitted to the FLP admin team. If approved, the admin team will request a purchase order for the cost of the tuition fees and provide you with formal confirmation of sponsorship.

This will allow a purchase order to be raised for your course and sent to the Course provider. You are advised to discuss how to register for the course directly with the Course provider. Please note if you are starting in August the earliest the FLP team will begin raising Purchase Orders is July.

Study Budget

Each Fellow commencing in post with effect from August 2026 will have an overall study budget of £3700.  This includes the cost of a postgraduate certificate (PG Cert) course. This means that if a Fellow chooses a PG Cert costing £3000, they will have a remaining study budget of £700 for all other study associated costs throughout the year. Study leave funding is available to fund professional development during the programme only.  Any remaining allocation cannot be claimed once a Fellow has finished the programme.  

After choosing your PGCert, you can request to use your remaining study budget to attend external courses / conferences related to your project or leadership development.

All requests for study leave funding must be submitted using the Study Leave Request Form for approval by the Associate Dean. Before submitting a Study Leave Request Form, the activity must be discussed with your Educational Supervisor. When considering requests for study leave funding the approver will follow the guiding principles of the national study leave policy. This means assessing the educational benefit and value for money of the course. This requires consideration of the relative cost in comparison to other activities and the perceived benefit to the future NHS. The approver(s) must be assured that regional or more cost-effective alternatives have been explored.   

Study leave requests must be submitted at least 4 weeks in advance. It may not be possible to progress requests received at short notice.

Fellows cannot be reimbursed for joining / membership costs for a conference / course, even if this this is advertised to provide a reduced attendance fee. In these circumstances only the actual activity fee will be considered.

Your request will be considered taking the following factors into account:

  • NHSE will cover costs associated with study leave during your Fellowship.  Any costs associated with your project should be funded by your School (in case of 100% NHSE costs) or your employer (in cases of 50/50 funded posts).
  • Funding available within the financial year (each Fellow from August 2025 has an overall study budget of £3700, including the cost of their PG Cert);
  • Relation to the Fellow’s learning needs;
  • Potential benefit to the Fellow and to the future NHS
  • Cost of course / conference

Any costs associated with the project, including travel, are covered by the employer.

Submitted forms will be processed by the Future Leaders administration team.

Any requests which exceed the overall study budget for an individual will not be considered.

Bi-monthly Meetings

Fellows meet on a bimonthly basis to network, share best practice, discuss any issues or developments within the programme, and learn from external speakers. There are terms of reference for the meetings. Fellows are expected to prioritise, attend and contribute to the meetings and must send apologies in advance if they are unable to attend.  

The meeting dates will be communicated to all fellows well in advance.  The day of the meetings will alternate to give those working less than full time the opportunity to attend. The location of the bimonthly meetings also alternate around different sites in the Yorkshire and Humber region. 

Bimonthly meetings for the 2025/26 cohort are as follows:

  • Tuesday 16th September 2025, Leeds
  • Friday 7th November 2025, Sheffield 
  • Wednesday 7th January 2026, York
  • Thursday 30th April 2026, Sheffield
  • Wednesday 3rd June 2026, Rotherham
  • Thursday 16th July 2026, TBC

Indemnity

In terms of indemnification of work undertaken by Future Leaders, cover is provided under the NHS Resolution scheme for Fellows undertaking service evaluations.  This would normally be through the Fellow’s employer.  Where however the project primarily benefits NHSE rather than the employing NHS trust, it has been agreed that NHSE indemnifies the employer and that NHSE will take the lead in the unlikely event of any litigation arising from the Future Leader’s work.

Research Ethics Approval

During your FLP year you will carry out a quality improvement or service evaluation project. These projects should NOT be ones that are classed as research, or which require NHS Research Ethics approval. This is because the research approval process takes several months to obtain, and you are unlikely to be able to complete a research project within the remaining time available. From August 2024, we will be asking the named link for the host institution to check this before a bid for a fellowship project is submitted.

You can check and see if your project is classed as research using this ‘Decision Tool’ from the HRA. This tool also has a useful table with explanations about the difference between research and service evaluation.

If you intend to publish your work in a traditional journal then it is important to identify a journal that can publish this, e.g. one that publishes service evaluation work with a new methodology. A good example is BMJ Quality and Safety. If you wanted to publish work that was specific to a specialty (e.g. Psychiatry, Paediatrics or Public Health) it is worth contacting the journal to see if they would publish these sorts of initiatives under the service evaluation umbrella.

Things can change throughout a fellowship, and your project may evolve into something that is research. In this situation, you need to have a discussion as soon as possible with your supervisor about whether the project is suitable for completion within the FLP year. Your supervisor is responsible for ensuring that you have access to the necessary support, whether academic or service evaluation. 

Publications / Conferences / Press

All fellows are expected to submit an abstract and poster towards the annual FLP conference and will be supported to do so.  

When Fellows write up their leadership work for other publications, you should acknowledge the source of funding and the FLP. 

In the instances where:

  • You have your work accepted for national or international conferences / publications. 
  • You have any discussion with local, national or international press.

Please email details to:

Educational & Professional Development 

 
Coaching

All leadership Fellows are encouraged to access the NHSE YH Coaching Scheme, which offers 4-6 sessions of coaching with a trained coach on the NHSE YH Coaching register. 

The aim of coaching is to increase potential and enhance the careers of those who access it. Sessions are confidential and do not form part of an educational assessment. 

People access coaching for a variety of reasons, and there are no right or wrong ones. Some examples are:

  • You want to achieve different outcomes, improve your performance, or improve your leadership or management skills;
  • You have yet to identify your key strengths and how best to utilise them;
  • You perceive a gap in your knowledge, skills, confidence or resources;
  • There is something at stake e.g. a challenge or development opportunity and you want to make the most of it.

Coaching complements the other components of the Fellowship and has the potential to enhance leadership confidence and the impact of the Fellowship. For further information please visit our Coaching webpages.

360º appraisal

We recommend that all Fellows complete a 360º feedback process using the  NHS Healthcare Leadership Model 360° Feedback Tool.  This is an online tool, which gathers information from raters via an anonymised online form, and then comprises a 2 hour facilitated feedback session.  This process is funded by the Future Leaders Programme.

Alternatively, you may wish to use any tools that your college or faculty provide.

A 360º appraisal can be undertaken at any point of the Fellows choosing during the year, but it is probably most useful if undertaken in the latter half of their year  This leaves time to identify development areas and an action plan to address these., leaving enough time so that they can work on any development points if they wish.

For further information on the process, please see the 360° Appraisal Notes.

FLP Library

The Future Leaders Programme Library features one-page summaries created by previous fellows, providing quick insight of important topics including:

Policies

Parental Leave

The Future Leaders Programme is intended to improve the leadership skills of professionals with as wide a range of backgrounds as possible. Becoming a parent is not therefore a barrier to undertaking a Fellowship. Please refer to our parental leave guidance for the available options during your fellowship year.

Working Less than Full Time (LTFT)

Working Less Than Full Time (LTFT)/part-time should not be a barrier to anyone wishing to undertake a Fellowship. However, it is important to note that;

  • Funding is time-limited to one year so Fellows working LTFT/part-time should complete their Fellowship alongside their full-time peers.  Funding does not carry-over to enable an extension.  The Educational Supervisor must be supportive of the Fellow undertaking their project on a part-time basis and it must be recognised that CPD will form 50% of their time at work.
  • The individual study leave allocation of £3,700 should be accessed only during the Fellowship and cannot be utilised once the Fellowship has ended.  A Fellow working LTFT may be granted an extension to their PGCert, but this agreement would be out-with the Future Leader’s Programme.
  • For doctors in training, any extension to the PGCert must be prospectively agreed with Training Programme Director

For more up to date information on Less Than Full Time Training see our LTFT Page here

Fellowship Extensions

Extensions are no longer available. Should extenuating circumstances result in a prolonged absence causing a significant delay in your learning and development due to circumstances outside your control please contact the Deputy Postgaradute Dean via the FLP Team to discuss.

Alternative ways of continuing leadership work within medical training pathways:

It is possible in some specialties (depending on curriculum stipulations and how far through training a trainee is) to continue leadership work one day per week, and for this to count towards CCT. This is based on the assumption that undertaking further leadership work is a viable way of acquiring learning outcomes relevant to the CCT in question, and is consistent with individual curricular/training requirements. This is most likely to be for senior trainees where leadership forms a significant part of the curriculum, and spending one day per week on leadership would not impinge negatively on training progress for clinical work. This must be arranged with full support of TPD and Head of School and discussed in advance with the Dean or Deputy Dean for Leadership.

In this case a trainee would return to training and no longer be OOP. Their leadership work would count towards training time. They would be paid as normal for their stage of training and there would be no need for additional budget.

Continuing with this training plan would be contingent on achieving an ARCP outcome 1.

Escalating Concerns

The FLP take any concerns raised regarding the programme seriously. If during your fellowship you need to raise concerns but aren’t sure of the best way to do so we advise reviewing the escalating concerns signposting chart produced by the Yorkshire and Humber Trainee Engagement Forum.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I work clinically during my Fellowship year?
Fellows must be mindful of the fact that they are employed to undertake a Fellowship and that is their primary responsibility.  The whole of their employed time is to be spent in this Fellowship, irrespective of the funding of the post.  Normal hours of work should be clarified at the outset of the year with the Fellow’s Educational Supervisor.

It is not permissible to undertake any clinical sessions or other form of employment during normal hours of work.  Undertaking additional / alternative employment during normal work hours of a Fellowship is fraudulent behaviour and Fellows doing so may be subject to disciplinary procedures by their employer, NHS England and their professional regulator.

Some Fellows express concern at spending a year away from clinical work and may wish to take steps to mitigate this concern and maintain their skills, e.g . through locum or bank work. Locum or bank work is permitted as long as it is undertaken in a Fellow's own time, i.e. during evenings, weekends or annual leave. Locum or bank work must not interfere with a Fellows’ ability to carry out their Fellowship role.

All Educational Supervisors and Fellows need to sign the locum agreement form by the end of August.

All Fellows must declare any clinical work undertaken at the end of their Fellowship year.  For medical, dental and public health residents in training, Fellows must declare all locums undertaken on their Form R, as this is the formal record of their whole scope of practice.

Can I claim travel expenses?
Expenses for activities related to your Fellowship can be claimed back from your employer. This includes travel to FLP courses (including those recommended on the FLP curriculum), meetings and other activities in relation to your Fellowship. Your expenses should be discussed and approved by your Educational Supervisor.

I want to attend a job interview or recruitment day – can I do this during my FLP time?
As this activity is not directly related to the FLP you are required to request professional leave to attend a job interview just as you would in your substantive / training post. You should seek approval from your FLP supervisor and should inform the FLP team. This is in keeping with BMA guidance (Study, professional and special leave). Whilst the BMA guidance is limited to doctors, this should be applied to all fellows regardless of their clinical background.

How do I apply for study leave for specialty-specific training courses during my FLP year?
The NHSE position remains that individuals on OOP are not eligible for study leave time and funding, except for OOPT (Out of Programme Training). In exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Postgraduate Dean, study leave funding during other OOP types may be considered for curriculum-based activity

Do I need to have an Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) during my FLP year?
ARCPs have to be conducted on a roughly 12 monthly basis with a maximum of no longer than 15 months between two ARCPs. This is regardless of whether a trainee is out of programme.  As a medical, dental or public health resident you will have taken an OOPE for this Fellowship year. Your TPD should conduct an ARCP in the timescale outlined above.  This can be in abstentia (you do not have to attend) if you and the TPD are happy with that. You are not required to upload evidence or work based assessments (WBAs) during your OOPE to your training program portfolio as your out of programme leave is not counting towards your training.  Should it be beneficial to your training progression to do so you can do this at your own choice. You must however provide an Education Supervisor report using template to provide the panel with an update on your OOPE.  The e-Portfolio based tempate will not be applicable so you may upload a report in a format that best serves you and your ES.  It is essential that all resident doctors must complete a Form R and declare any clinical practice and locum work they have undertaken in the period since their last submission.

You should be given an outcome 8 if you under go an ARCP whilst out of programme.

For further information see the Gold Guide, available here: https://www.copmed.org.uk/gold-guide

I am undertaking a fellowship in Yorkshire & the Humber which is not part of the FLP. Can I attend your meetings and access courses?
You are welcome to access FLP bimonthly meetings for networking opportunities – please contact the Future Leaders team for upcoming dates and links.  Priority for all of our courses will be given to felows whose post is part of the FLP. If places are avilable there may be opportunities for you to attend so please enquire with the Future Leaders team.

Contacts & Resources

 
Contact E-mail address
Future Leaders Administration Team england.futureleaders.yh@nhs.net
Fellows to the Future Leaders Programme Penelope.Sellers@nhs.net
Lewis.Roberts5@nhs.net
Associate Dean Susy.Stirling1@nhs.net
Deputy Postgraduate Dean Fiona.Bishop7@nhs.net
Clinical Skills Network (Yorkshire and the Humber) www.yhcssn.co.uk/
NHS Leadership Academy www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/
Kings Fund www.kingsfund.org.uk/
Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management www.fmlm.ac.uk/
 
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