Is there funding for LEEP?

Currently, there is funding for trainee doctors to undergo LEEP during their study leave, but other groups of AHPs will need to find local funding to support time to undertake the training.

Note – one trust has undertaken LEEP as a team building exercise across the multi-professional team and received local funding to support the backfill, to attend the sessions as a group. Applications to fund locally-delivered courses to trainees for LEEP must follow and meet the most up to date study leave guidance.

Courses may also need to meet certain criteria in order to be supported by HEE Exceptional Funding, such as the recent funding for lost opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deans will send out for bids via Heads of Schools and DMEs as and when.

How can Foundation Doctors utilise study leave to attend LEEP?

Foundation Year 1 doctors can utilise the study leave allocated to their Foundation Year 2 year to attend the LEEP programme. Please see the HEE London guidance for Study Leave for more information.

Can LEEP be delivered alongside other leadership programmes?

LEEP is an excellent programme to augment an existing leadership programme, as it focuses on reflection and discussion, and can help solidify knowledge gained elsewhere. It has Continuing Professional Development approval.

Do the sessions need to be delivered in the prescribed order?

Yes, the LEEP sessions are designed to build as they go, to augment learning and reflection, and are therefore best delivered in order.

At what interval should the LEEP sessions be delivered?

LEEP 1 and 2 can be delivered closely together, but we suggest a few weeks between LEEP 2 and 3 to enable delegates to decide on and solidify a QUIPP idea.

We advise that the LEEP 3 project is complete, or has at least been started before attending LEEP 4, so would suggest a one-four month interval.

Can LEEP 1 and 2 be delivered in the same day?

We advise that there be a break between LEEP 1 and 2 in order for the delegates to reflect and cement their learning.

However, we do appreciate that, if delivering as a face-to-face programme, it may be logistically more feasible to group them together. We do not advise that both be delivered virtually on the same day.

Can the QUIPPs be done in teams?

Yes. QUIPPs also lend themselves to trainees moving between trusts, as other trainees can take up projects anywhere in the cycle and this encourages collaboration between trainees and trusts.

What will happen if individuals rotate out of the hospital / trust part way through the course?

Depending on how the course is run (face-to-face or virtually), the delegate can continue with their original group if this is logistically feasible, but, as LEEP is pan-London, they should be able to link into a LEEP session in their next posting.

The same is true of trainees joining a trust / hospital. They would be offered a space on a course locally if they had not completed all sessions.

How will faculty be trained / accredited to deliver LEEP?

Delegates, who have completed the LEEP programme, will be eligible to become a facilitator to deliver LEEP in the future.

There will be the opportunity for the individual to be a facilitator in a LEEP breakout room, followed by a session as a main deliverer, whilst supervised by one of the LEEP team. That individual would then be able to deliver LEEP.

There is availability for further supervised teaching of LEEP should the individual / LEEP faculty feel it necessary in order to support the individual’s needs. The delegate in question need not have completed the entire LEEP course. Once they have undergone LEEP 1, they will be able to deliver LEEP 1 after the above facilitation sessions, and so on with LEEP 2, 3 and 4.

This will enable a swifter delivery of the course and enable utilisation of trainees as faculty, whilst still working within the same hospital / trust.

The course is passportable (transferrable), with a certificate to confirm completion of training to be faculty, so once trained in one trust, LEEP participants will be able to deliver in another trust.

How will LEEP delivery be sustained after the initial trainees move on?

Anyone can be trained to deliver LEEP. Therefore, a faculty can be developed that will not rotate with such frequency as junior doctors. As LEEP is a pan-London initiative, there will be individuals trained and able to deliver the sessions within the new cohort of trainees rotating to the next hospital / trust.

Who will issue certificates of completion?

Certificates will be issued locally by the individual education departments, after completion of the webinar and feedback. Departments must supply a list of delegates who have completed LEEP to HEE.