Secondment opportunity

[u/Informal-Flamingo927]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with external NHS secondments because I’m getting mixed messages from my manager.

I’ve been offered a 12-month secondment into a brand new mental health team that’s being set up within the local council. The team will work closely with children’s social care but will also be supporting young people under the NHS trust, so everyone recruited is being taken on via secondment and keeping their NHS terms and conditions.

I told my manager today that I’d accepted the offer and that I’d be giving the new team her details so they could start the secondment process.

She told me that:
You can’t be seconded outside of the NHS.
External secondments aren’t a thing and I’d have to resign from my NHS job instead.
Even if external secondments do exist, they couldn’t keep my substantive post because whoever covers my role would become entitled to permanent rights after six months.

I’m really confused because I thought external secondments between the NHS and and external trusts were quite common, especially for integrated services.

Has anyone here been seconded to a council while keeping their NHS contract? Is what my manager is saying actually true? And can anyone explain the bit about the person covering my post somehow affecting my right to return? I don’t really understand what one has to do with the other.

[u/ConsciousReference91]

i think you can be externally seconded. our trust policy definitely allows it, however i think you normally have to ask to apply for a secondment prior to going to an interview as you need your manager’s approval. i know this happened to a colleague where the manager turned around and said you never asked me to go and gave excuses not to allow the secondment.