There is no right to appeal for students who are not allocated a capped bursary place by their university or college.
If you’ve been allocated a capped place and you disagree with the decision about your bursary application, you can appeal the decision by writing to us by email at bursarycomplaints@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or by post to:
NHS Social Work Bursaries
NHSBSA Student Services
Bickerstaffe House
1 Bickerstaffe Square
Talbot Road
Blackpool
Lancashire
FY1 3AH
You must include:
- your Social Work Bursary reference number
- your full name
- your contact details
- as much information as possible as to why you’re appealing the decision
The team will consider if your application has been processed in accordance with the scheme rules. You'll normally receive a response within 10 working days.
An overview of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) complaints procedure is available on our website. This details how you can make a formal written complaint including the timescales and stages involved.
Unreasonable behaviour
In a very small number of cases, individuals pursue their complaints in a way we consider unreasonable.
Where necessary, we'll take action to protect the wellbeing of our colleagues and the integrity of our complaints process.
The NHSBSA will not tolerate deceitful, abusive, offensive, threatening or other forms of unacceptable behaviour. Anyone who continues to display these types of behaviours may be put under certain restrictions by the NHSBSA during or after the complaints process.
These can include:
- telephone calls restricted to specified days and limited times
- contact limited to one form of contact only, such as a maximum of one letter per week
- contact required to take place with one named colleague
- an agreement about future behaviour before the complaint is progressed
- contact managed with the help of an independent advocate
If an individual continues to behave unreasonably, despite restrictions being in place, we may decide to terminate contact with them and discontinue any further investigation into their complaint. Only the NHSBSA Chief Executive can designate a complaint as unreasonable in line with this policy.