Guidance for Claiming for Travel and Subsistence

Claims should be made using the FP84 0306 Form
Since 1 April 2006 the payment of travel and subsistence for dentists undertaking verifiable continuing professional development (CPD) was delegated to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) with delegation of the commissioning of primary care dental services.

Completing Part 1 and 2 of the FP84 0306 Form
The FP84 0306 form will appear as a single sheet that has been produced electronically. You may obtain a copy from your Postgraduate Dean’s office or from the course organiser.

The copy of the form may act as a course certificate for evidence of verifiable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activity for the GDC so keep it safe. It is the dentist’s responsibility to retain a copy of this form for his/her own records. The PCT, as part of their system or probity checks, may also ask for evidence of attendance.

Part 1 – Particulars of dentist
The following must be completed:

• Personal details – Surname and first name.
• GDC number – this is used for personal identification in GDC checks later on
• Name of PCT
• PCT performer number of the dentist making the claim

Part 2 – Particulars of Course
Section 63 as a Category now no longer exists. Theses courses will now be know as ‘Deanery’ Courses.

The appropriate box describing whether the activity is a 'Deanery Course', an 'Other Approved Course' or 'Other Verifiable CPD Activity', such as e-learning, must be ticked, as the PCT will carry out random probity checks.

Course details, title, venue and date must be entered. For those which are not Deanery courses, it would be a good idea to keep a copy of the course programme or any certificates issues, with your retained copy of the FP84 0306, in case of later probity checking by the GDC or PCT.

For Deanery courses the Postgraduate Dean’s office will keep the details of the course on their database.

The length of the course should be entered as the number of verifiable hours of CPD, for example – course starting at 10.00 am and finishing at 12.30 pm would count as 2.5 hours of CPD. It is very important to fill in this amount properly as you will be using this box as evidence of CPD activity.

Completing Part 3 of Form FP84-0306
Travel and subsistence may only be claimed for attending Deanery or VT courses.

• A separate line must be used for each type of expense. You must also enter the time you left your home (or practice) to go to the course and the time you returned.
• Claims must be accompanied by relevant tickets/receipts or credit card statement (except for mileage expenses)

Subsistence Amounts
Travelling Expenses – public transport fares should be the cheapest available, i.e. second class rail fares and economy returns where possible.

Mileage Allowance – at 23p per mile, for travel by car. An extra 2p per mile is payable to the claimant if another eligible dentist is taken in the same vehicle.

Day Subsistence – Lunch (small meal) allowance - £5. To claim this you must have been absent from the practice for more than 5 hours. You must also have been absent between 1200 and 1400 hours.

Evening meal allowance - £15. To claim this you must have been way from your practice for more than 10 hours and after 1900.

24 hours meal allowance – if you are away for 24 hours, you can claim £20. You cannot claim lunch or evening meal in addition.

FP84 claim forms, once completed and signed should be sent to you Primary Care Trust. For dentists in Kent, Surrey and Sussex the Primary Care Trust Support Services / Primary Care Agency are processing these claims.

The FP84 0306 is only available from the course organiser via the Postgraduate Centre following the course:

The GDC scheme became mandatory from January 2002. Five yearly checks will be made on dental practitioners based on their graduation date. There is a requirement for all dentists on the register to complete 250 hours of CPD (75 verifiable, i.e. certificated; 175 non-verifiable) in a 5-year rolling cycle. On average this means 50 hours per year (15 hours verifiable and 35 hours non-verifiable).

You will need to photocopy the FP84 0306, so that a copy may be retained for your own records, both for the GDC and the PCT if they carry out probity checks.

It is the responsibility of the dentist making the claim to ensure that all the information is correctly entered on the form, prior to submitting it to the PCT/PCSS/PCA for payment.

If 'Deanery' or 'Other Approved Courses', the form should also bear the Deanery or Postgraduate Centre Stamp and be signed to confirm attendance; otherwise the course organiser must sign it. For e-learning the form will be provided electronically, with the organiser’s signature.