Nursing & Midwifery student support 2016/17

Expenses for clinical placement

Clinical placement is the part of the course that consists of supervised practice in clinical areas. You can claim expenses for some extra travel and reasonable accommodation costs so you are not out of pocket. Educational or observational visits that are part of the general academic costs of the course should be paid for by your institution. You must meet the cost of daily travel to and from your institution and your normal day-to-day living expenses from the £5 per day personal allowance included in your bursary.

Travel

As there is £5 included within the bursary for daily travel already, you can only claim for placement travel if the cheapest method of public transport exceeds £5 per day unless claiming for patient visits only.

You are expected to use student offers, season passes and zonecards wherever possible. If you claim more than the cheapest fare available, your claim will be restricted to the cheapest fare. If public transport is available but you choose to use your own car, expenses will be restricted to the cost of public transport.

If nearby public transport is unavailable for your shift times, you must seek agreement in advance from your institution to use your car. The use of your car may also be authorised if you are using it to reach nearby public transport or are on a community placement and have used your car for patient visits. You will be reimbursed at the current motor mileage rate of 40p per mile.

Airfares can be paid where your institution is satisfied they are justified. You should always seek your institution's agreement in advance if you want to have airfares paid.

If you expect your travel costs to exceed £35 minus £5 deduction included in bursary, you should seek local accommodation wherever possible.

You will not be reimbursed for taxi fares, tips, sleeper berths, carriage of luggage or bicycles, parking costs and any travel not directly related to the practice placement.

Accommodation

You can claim for reasonable accommodation costs if you have to live away from home or a term time address whilst on placement.

You should seek authorisation from your university before you arrange the accommodation. If you incur costs for staying with friends of family, we will reimburse you up to a maximum of £15 per night. The cost of all meals, food etc. during placement that are not included in accommodation costs ( i.e. bed & breakfast) must be met from your personal allowance.

Applying for clinical placement expenses

You should apply for placement expenses quarterly in arrears except:

• where you will have a large outlay for accommodation, a claim can be paid in advance;
• where the cost of travel for the placement will cause you undue financial hardship. Your institution may allow you to apply in advance, or part way through the placement.

Give your completed expenses form to your institution. They will assess each claim on its merits, deciding the most appropriate method and costs of travel, before passing the approved claim to SAAS who will arrange for payment to your bank account within three weeks of receiving the approved claim.

All claims must be received by SAAS within 6 months of your placement end date.