Placement Administration Guide
Introduction
Placement Admin Team overview
The Placement Admin Team works across the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health and the School of Allied Health Sciences and primarily plan and allocate the majority of these students into placement settings to gain experience in various health settings.
Before you are allowed to go into placement, we will at first co-ordinate with various teams across the University to ensure that you have clearance. This will include checking you are fully enrolled, have completed the DBS process, are cleared by the occupational health provider and have completed all mandatory training required.
Working with various NHS Foundation Trusts, General Practitioners (GPs) and the Private, Voluntary and Independent Sector (PVIs), we allocate placements for you during your time studying at the University.
We look at various factors including location, driving status and range of placements to find the most suitable options available. We also respond to queries regarding placement hours which are recorded on the PamS system.
Following the successful completion of the course we will register you with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC), Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) or General Dental Council (GDC), dependant on the course.
Introduction
Team structure
Carolyn Benfield Head of Placements and Health Partnerships
Annette Clover Placement Administration Manager
Chris Teague Senior Placement Administrator
Jamshadun Chowdhury Placement Administrator
Adam Trowbridge Placement Administrator
To contact the team please click on the relevant link below:
Email:
Placement queries
PAMs queries
Occupational Health queries
Travel and Accommodation Claims (TDAE)
Mandatory Training
Contact for Innovate Healthcare, our Occupational Health provider: Please call 0161 5277405 or email
You can view your vaccination history by logging into the Innovate Healthcare system or contacting them on the details above.
Clearances/Occ health/DBS/Mandatory training
Occupational Health
Before you can go into placements, you will need to have full clearance.
This includes:
Clearance by our Occupational Health provider Innovate Healthcare to ensure you are safe to attend practice and have had any necessary vaccines before coming into contact with patients. Please see the guide to Immunisation, Screening and Health Clearances.
DBS clearance
You are advised to begin this process as soon as possible. Further information on the DBS process can be found via the following links:
DBS flowchart PDF
DBS Requirements for the Course PDF
Mandatory training
You will be contacted ahead of your placement and will be required to complete training, both online and face to face.
Induction
Trusts/organisations will require you to attend an induction at the start of your placement period and will advise you of any induction details.
Placement allocations
What we do
We work with our practice partners to allocate placements.
We take into consideration various factors when selecting placements:
The range of placements the student has already had.
The distance/time to travel from the student’s term time address.
Whether the student has full access to a car and if the placement requires a car user.
Once the placements have been agreed we release placement details via the PamS system. You will access this to view your placements and to complete and submit your timesheets. See the section on PamS for further details.
For NMC programmes, there is a regulatory requirement for students to have a range of placements throughout the course. Within this, we are bound by capacity limits for each placement which are taken into account when allocating placements.
Placement allocations
Travel to placements
Your placement could be up to approximately an hour’s commute from your term-time address.
Please ensure you keep your driving and car status up to date; if there are any changes please email the Placement Admin Team and update OASIS.
You are expected to use public transport if necessary.
Personal details
Please ensure you keep your details up to date on OASIS. If your term-time and/or home address changes, please email the Placement Admin Team and update OASIS.
If you have been allocated to a GP placement that is also your registered medical practice please email the Placement Admin Team to make us aware.
You don’t need to submit a ‘Request to Change Placement’ form.
Please ensure you keep all of your information up to date on OASIS as this information is used when allocating placements.
Placement allocations
Allocated placement hours
As a requirement of your course and regulatory body, you will be required to complete a minimum number of hours in placement. See below the allocated hours and any nights requirements for your course.
Placement allocations
To request a change of placement
In exceptional circumstances you may request a change of placement providing enough notice is given, there is capacity/availability at an alternative placement, and your reason for the request is deemed valid. If you need to request a placement change, please read the guide first and then complete the form so that this can be considered. The guide and form are linked below.
Request to Change Placement Guide
Request to Change Placement Form
Placement allocations
Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE)
You may be eligible to claim travel and accommodation expenses incurred when attending a practice placement.
You could claim for the following:
Travel
You can claim for travel if your journey to placement is further/more expensive than your travel to university. You are expected to find the cheapest available route. Further information and the claim form
Accommodation
You may require accommodation if it is not practical to travel daily and/ or unforeseen circumstances prevent you from returning to your term-time address.
You are expected to find accommodation of a reasonable cost. Further information and the claim form can be found in your Learner Support Fund (LSF) account.
Placement allocations
What can be claimed
9 Accommodation claims
9 Booking fees
9 One weekly return journey to your normal place of residence can be claimed for Please include receipts and invoices with your claim that clearly show the cost, accommodation period, and your name.
What cannot be claimed
9 Room service
9 More than one weekly return journey to your term-time residence
9 Food and drink
9 Staying at your parent’s home address
To claim:
Log into your online NHS Learning Support Fund account.
Click ‘Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses’.
Download and complete the form.
Email to: travelclaims@uos.ac.uk.
Send receipts (train/bus tickets, accommodation invoices, petrol receipts).
We will process your claim and send this to the course leader for approval before sending to the NHSBSA.
General advice:
Keep all receipts for expenses you are claiming for (scanned copies).
Claims must be made within 6 months from date of placement.
Successful claims can take up to 8 weeks to be paid into your account.
Any questions, queries, or concerns, please email: travelclaims@uos.ac.uk
Further information:
Completing your TDAE claim - a guide for students and universities (PDF: 429 KB)
Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses | NHSBSA
PamS (Placement at my Suffolk)
Overview
PamS is an online system where you will view your upcoming placements. You will see the placement details including the address and who to contact at the placement. Please note: PamS is not applicable to Radiography students. You also use the system during your placement period to record the hours you have worked and submit these for authorisation from your manager/supervisor/assessor.
The system allows you to keep a record of your combined placement hours so that you can track these.
Access your PamS record
PamS allows you, as a student, to:
Record worked hours, sickness and absences
View running total of completed hours
View placements
Record protected learning hours/Self-directed study (Apprentice Nurse Associates ONLY).
9 Please submit your PamS timesheets weekly (daily for Midwifery students)
9 Double-check your hours are correct before submitting your timesheets
9 You are required to record sickness, absences and zero hours
9 Breaks are included except for Apprentice Nurse Associates and Apprentices
9 The authoriser has 14 days to approve your timesheet, please follow up with your authoriser if they have not approved your timesheet
9 Any concerns or questions, please email us
PamS (Placement at my Suffolk)
PamS help and user guides
You can find the PamS help and User Guides in the Placement Admin area on Brightspace. These user guides provide all the relevant information relating to your time sheets and the PamS system.
If you have any further questions or issues, please do not hesitate to email us.
Evaluation
Upon completion of your placement, you will be given the opportunity to evaluate the placement area.
Once the end date of the placement has passed, a link to the evaluation form will appear on your PamS in place of the placement title.*
There is a small number of yes and no questions and there is also a space for comments, should you wish to give them. This allows you to give honest feedback regarding the placement area. Please be assured that your feedback is anonymous.
* Should you wish to still access your placement please click the binoculars button within your PamS account, next to the placement dates.
Registration
Following the successful completion of the course you will be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or General Dental Council (GDC), dependent on your course.
NMC only
For students who are on a pre-registration programme (eg. BSc/Apprenticeships/ Apprentice Nursing Associate), you will be sent an email asking you to complete a Final Declaration of Good Health and Good Character, this is an NMC requirement for registration. You must complete this as a matter of urgency to prevent any delays with your registration.
It’s important that you ensure that all of your personal details are up to date and correct on OASIS as these are the details that we will use to register you with the NMC.
If you are already registered with the NMC we will send you an email asking for your NMC PIN. Your details on the University system (OASIS) also need to match your registration details so please ensure that this is the case. It’s important that you ensure that all of your personal details are up to date and correct on OASIS as these are the details that we will use to register you with the NMC.
A designated signatory (usually your course leader) will confirm your Good Health and Good Character on the NMC portal. The NMC will send confirmation of your registration and details of your PIN to your student email address.
HCPC only
Once you have received confirmation of your award we will submit your registration to the HCPC. They will contact you once their part of the process is complete.
Key links, useful contacts and support
Email links:
Placement queries
PAMs queries
Occupational Health queries
Travel Claims queries
DBS
Student Support
Academic Admin
Mandatory Training
Links: PamS
Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses
Student support for mental and physical wellbeing
The university has partnered with Health Assured, offering a range of resources, information, tools and tips to help you with your mental and physical wellbeing.
24/7 counselling helpline — the helpline phone number is 0800 028 3766, you can phone directly without downloading the App. As well as in the moment counselling, which you can access as much as you like; they also offer legal and debt advice and can assess you for structured counselling or online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy programmes.
NHS First Response can be reached by calling 111 and selecting option 2. First Response offers mental health support for anyone who may be in a mental health crisis or find they are unsafe. In an emergency, please contact the emergency services or present to your nearest Hospital Emergency Department.
If you wish to contact the University’s team of advisers, please find these details below:
Email the Student Centre
Email the Disability and Wellbeing Team
Telephone: 01473 338400
