Eligibility criteria for LCEAs from April 2022
Future LCEA award rounds form part of the consultant offer being put to vote by trade unions in an effort to resolve the current industrial action dispute. If members vote in favor of the offer, the contractual entitlement to new LCEAs will cease from 1 April 2024. The 2023/24 award round should continue to progress as agreed and planned locally to ensure that the required minimum investment funds are spent on eligible consultants. Employers may decide to pause development work on 2024/25 award round designs whilst the vote takes place. We expect the outcome of the vote to be announced by the 25 January 2024.
What the contract says
Schedule 30 sets out who is eligible for funding purposes, and (separately) to participate in the LCEA scheme.
Those eligible to be included in the calculation of the minimum investment amount
Schedule 30 states:
For these purposes, eligible consultants are those who are substantively employed with at least one year’s service at consultant level and who do not hold a NCEA, or a distinction award.
Schedule 30 only applies to consultants who are employed under the 2003 Terms and Conditions – Consultants (England) 2003 (2003 TCS) and therefore agency locum consultants, those employed on contracts that pre-date the 2003 TCS or those on locally varied contracts should not be included in the calculation of the minimum investment amount.
The minimum amount invested in the LCEA fund is based on eligible full-time equivalent (FTE) consultants.
Those eligible to participate in the scheme and apply for an LCEA
Contractual eligibility to participate in the LCEA scheme to date has always been predicated on employment under the 2003 TCS: as employer-run LCEAs are a requirement, as set out in Schedule 30 of the 2003 TCS, all consultants employed under those terms (who meet the other eligibility criteria) are eligible to apply for LCEA awards.
Despite a nationally agreed extension of the eligibility criteria for the 2021-22 equal distribution round, a return to Schedule 30 post 1 April 2022 brings a reversion to more restrictive criteria in the contract, which are as follows:
Eligible consultants
Any extension to include groups of consultants (other than those stipulated as eligible above) in the scheme or to make a full payment to those who work LTFT requires either a ‘dilution’ of the pot, or additional funding provided locally.
We were unable to secure sign off for a national approach from all parties for either position. Increasing the numbers who can participate in the scheme or making full payments where the fund is only calculated on the basis of FTE consultants, where additional funds will not be provided locally will amount to a breach of schedule 30 for consultants employed on 2003 TCS and will require variation to schedule 30 locally through individual or collective consultation.
Where trusts supplement the pot at a local level when they extend eligibility so as to ensure that the number of consultants who are deemed to be eligible to participate in the scheme is used to calculate the fund, there will not be a breach of schedule 30 and this variation to local LCEA schemes can be made through consultation with the JLNC.
Consultants excluded from eligibility
Listed below are those consultants who are excluded from the eligibility criteria noted above.
Employers may use their discretion with agreement from their joint local negotiating committee (JLNC) to extend eligibility beyond the criteria, with the understanding that this would dilute the pot for those already eligible. Alternatively, employers could choose to top up the investment to prevent dilution.
- Consultants on contracts other than the 2003 TCS.
- Consultants who have been employed on the 2003 TCS for less than a year.
- Consultants on 2003 TCS who hold a National Clinical Excellence Award (NCEA) / National Clinical Impact Award (NCIA) / or a distinction award.
- Consultants on the 2003 TCS who have adverse outcomes following disciplinary actions by the employer, the General Medical Council (GMC) or the General Dental Council (GDC).
Adverse outcomes include disciplinary sanctions, all findings by the GMC or the GDC of impaired fitness to practice due to misconduct, deficient professional performance or criminal conviction or caution.
- Agency locum doctors.
However, if subsequently appointed to a substantive consultant post, it would be acceptable for their application to draw on evidence from their time as a locum consultant.
- Consultants who work exclusively in a general management position (such as chief executive or general manager) without a specific clinical role.
The purpose of the awards should be to recognise clinical excellence, and therefore practising clinicians, rather than those solely acting as managers.
- Consultant clinical academics (CCAs) on honorary contracts.
For CCAs Schedule 30 means that:
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CCAs employed directly by the trust under 2003 TCS are contractually entitled to participate in the LCEA scheme.
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Those CCAs who are substantively employed full time by the trust will be included in their FTE numbers and entitled to be included in the LCEA fund calculation.
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CCAs who are not substantively employed by NHS organisations, but instead hold honorary contracts with them and are substantively employed by another organisation, are not recognised as eligible for the purposes of the calculation of the LCEA fund, nor are they contractually entitled to participate in LCEAs.
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However, the expectation of the parties is that all CCAs will continue to be considered eligible to apply for LCEAs where agreed with the substantive employer. Where a CCA is accepted as eligible to receive an award, additional funds will need to be provided by the substantive employer to ensure that funding is not diluted for those with a contractual right to be considered eligible.
Additional minimum entry criteria and varying contractual terms
As well as the contractual eligibility criteria, trusts may opt to set additional ‘minimum entry criteria’ for consultants to participate in the awards scheme. This may be particularly pertinent for an equal distribution approach, where trusts can use the awards money to drive improvements in areas such as job planning and mandatory training requirements.
Care must be taken to ensure that the criteria are applied fairly and are achievable by all consultants (that is, that it does not disadvantage certain groups of consultants more than others) and such criteria should be introduced through consultation with the JLNC. There is a contractual obligation on employers to apply the provisions of Schedule 30, but locally, the terms can be varied through individual or collective consultation. The implications of any such changes would need to be carefully considered and agreed in line with the employer’s own collective bargaining agreement frameworks.
