Annual leave
On this page:
Annual leave entitlement
Applying for annual leave
Higher Specialist Trainees (HSTs)
Core Trainees, Foundation Doctors, and GP trainees
Do's and Don'ts
Annual leave entitlement
The annual leave year runs from the start date of your appointment.
The annual leave entitlement for a full-time doctor is as follows, based on a standard working week of five days:
- On first appointment to the NHS: 27 days
- After five years completed NHS service: 32 days
Where your contract or placement is for less than 12 months, the leave entitlement is pro rata to the length of the contract or placement.
A doctor working less than full time will be allocated leave and be entitled to public holidays on a pro rata basis.
Applying for annual leave
- Log into your loop account and it bring you onto the news feed
- Select Menu at the bottom
- Select Leave
- To add leave, click the plus button in the top right-hand corner and select the type of leave you would like to request
- Follow the screen to select the dates and the reason
- For annual leave - in order for this to be approved you must write in the notes section who your cross cover is for your annual leave
- To see your entitlements, on the main leave screen, click the Annual leave and this will bring up your entitlement for the rotation.
Watch a short demo on how to book your annual leave.
Higher Specialist Trainees (HSTs)
All HST’s should discuss and get their annual leave dates approved by their clinical supervisor.
Cross cover is not required, and a note should be added to the Loop request to confirm that the clinical supervisor has approved this period of annual leave - without this note, the annual leave may be rejected with a note asking for this to be confirmed.
It is the HSTs responsibility to notify administrators from their teams that they will be on annual leave to allow time for any clinical duties assigned to them on those days to be cancelled.
Core Trainees, Foundation Doctors, and GP trainees
All Core Trainees, Foundation doctors and GP Trainees should discuss and have their annual leave dates approved with the clinical supervisor and cross cover person.
Cross cover is required for all shifts, unless otherwise agreed with the clinical supervisor.
This should be noted in the Loop request to confirm the name of the cross cover and approval from the clinical supervisor - without this note, the annual leave may be rejected with a note asking for this to be added and confirmed.
It is the Core Trainee, Foundation doctor and GP Trainee to notify administrators from their teams that they will be on annual leave to allow time for any clinical duties assigned to them on those days to be cancelled.
Do's and Don'ts
Do
- Discuss all annual leave with your clinical supervisor and colleague
- Ensure that you name your cross-cover in your Loop request
- Plan ahead to ensure all annual leave is utilised
Don'ts
- Assume that annual leave is approved once submitted
- Leave annual leave book until last minute (unless unavoidable)
- Forget to put your cross-cover name in the request - this could delay approval