Medical ACT
The MoT process is facilitated by the regional Medical ACT Officers working with Directors of Medical Education, collating data according to each medical programme.
The data collection exercise is focussed on teaching activity delivered during the previous allocation year (financial year), which is used to fund the next allocation year – this means that for the 2021/22 MoT exercise, data collection is focussed on teaching activities delivered during 2020/21, which is then used to determine funding for activities during 2022/23.
The Boards also supply information on the actual costs of GP placements and travel and subsistence costs that have been incurred and paid by both Primary and Secondary Care. These costs are top-sliced at Stage 2 of the allocation process and are reimbursed in full. The remaining funding is then distributed across the Boards according to the proportion of teaching activity in each Board.
“Retrospective” Element versus “Known Changes”
Due to the retrospective nature of the data collection exercise in relation to the funding year, data on “known changes” that are anticipated for the forthcoming academic year can be captured within the MoT template, in a separate column.
An example of this would be introduction of a new cohort of medical students with a primary care focus, which has attracted additional funding. In this instance the impact of the new funding will need to be reflected in the Boards’ allocation amount as the new cohort moves through the programme.
Capture of “known changes” is possible for all categories of MoT data. “Known changes” data should reflect strategic changes required by medical school programmes’ curricular developments and how these impact on Boards’ delivery of clinical teaching; it is expected that such changes should be discussed in advance at local and RAWG meetings, well before the MoT exercise takes place.
MoT returns are usually submitted in December and thereafter, NES undertakes an analytical review of the submissions in January/February of each year in collaboration with the Medical ACT Officers. This is a key part of the allocation process during which all data including student numbers, Cat A placement weeks and Cat B hours are reviewed for anomalies when compared with the previous year’s submission. The Medical ACT Officers play a key role in this process by providing insights into any variances. The deadline for completion of the analytical review is usually by mid-February each year so that work on remaining stages of the model can progress further to support allocation release at the start of the next financial year.
For an overview on Medical ACT, please click the image below to view a presentation by Ellena Biddulph.
This page was last updated on: 28.06.2024 at 08.03
