No – you can contact us as many times as you need to.

Provided the study or research in question has appropriate Ethics Committee approval, our members are entitled to ask for advice and assistance (including indemnity) for hosting or participating in the study.

However, members should ensure appropriate indemnity provided by the sponsor is also in place, as the benefits of membership, and in particular the entitlement to seek indemnity for claims, relate to matters arising from alleged acts or omissions in the member’s own clinical practice. Medical Protection membership benefits do not extend to any claims arising from alleged product liability or for any adverse commercial consequences alleged to have been suffered relating to the use of any drugs during or subsequent to the trial.

(Please also note that the right to seek Medical Protection assistance is personal to the member and that Medical Protection does not provide an indemnity to the Trial Sponsor)

It is expected that all clinical staff involved will work within the approved protocol of any research project or trial.

Your local membership team is here to assist you with all your membership enquiries. You can contact them on 0800 2255 677 or email [email protected].

Our in-house experts are a dedicated team of eight medicolegal advisers and three case managers, all based in New Zealand.

For a full list of benefits, access the page on our website here.

You can contact the medicolegal helpline and request assistance. We can provide expert support including preparing statements and responding to the media on your behalf.

Our medicolegal advice service is open to members 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

You can contact the medicolegal helpline by calling 0800 2255 677 or email [email protected].

Medical Protection offers members occurrence-based indemnity, which means that if you are a member at the time an incident takes place, you have the right to seek assistance through Medical Protection, regardless of whether or not you are a member when you notify us of the incident (so you are not required to purchase additional ‘tail’ cover, for any period of time you have been an active member with Medical Protection).  

Our strength lies in the fact that our discretionary protection allows us to assist in matters that providers who offer insurance policies cannot, or will not, due to the constraints of an insurance policy. We believe the product we offer is a perfect fit for health professionals.

Medical Protection is a global organisation with local entities in each of the countries where services are provided. In New Zealand, we have a branch structure with independent financials which are lodged in country with the Companies Office. 

Our profile in New Zealand has continued to expand over the last few years, with a team of 16 in country (including a core management team making local decisions) and new case managers here to support our medicolegal advisers and help streamline the service we provide to you. 

As a not-for-profit, mutual organisation, we do not have shareholders – all your subscriptions are  for the benefit of you, the member. Everything we do goes towards protecting the professional reputation and wellbeing of our members. 

We regularly review the subscriptions we charge to ensure they are reflective of the true cost of providing members with the support, advice and protection you expect from us. Where savings can be made, these are passed back to you wherever possible.

In fact, we are now less expensive than our competitors across most comparable base grades. 

While some countries, such as Australia, require health professionals to carry professional indemnity to practise this is not the case in New Zealand, in part because of the ACC. It is, however, highly likely that it will be a condition under your employment contract that you carry some form of indemnity.

Indemnity has the flexibility to consider each case on its own merits and is not bound by policy limits or exclusions, whereas insurance has defined policy exclusions and limits.

MPS has discretionary cover which can allow us to be flexible with a wide range of issues and provide assistance where an insurance policy might not – if it’s not in an insurance policy then it is not covered.

While it is true we do not cover for work done prior to you joining MPS we believe that it is more important for you to be covered after your time in membership with us. We will make sure that you are covered during your time in membership (called occurrence-based cover), even if you leave membership (eg, due to retirement) without the need for purchasing tail-end cover, which is something an insurance policy would require you to do.

No. While we do have our head office in the UK, MPS also has two well established offices in New Zealand (Wellington and Auckland), which boasts 15 staff members. MPS also has offices in Australia, Singapore and South Africa, with a new office to be opened soon in Hong Kong. Most decisions for assistance are made locally, with deferral to the head office only made for appeals to those decisions.

GPs who have full Medical Protection membership can request indemnity for tongue-tie division if:

• they have appropriate training and experience
• patients/parents are properly informed of the procedure, this includes the risks as well as potential complications, and consent has been obtained before proceeding
• it is performed in an appropriate setting. Procedures not carried out in clinical premises must be undertaken in a safe environment with adequate and appropriate facilities.

Those who are on obstetrics/gynaecology, paediatric and GPs on their current grade can request indemnity for undertaking the Harmony prenatal test provided members ensure:

• patients are adequately counselled and consented
• patients are appropriately followed up
• full records are maintained (including records of the counselling and consent, as well as follow up arrangements).

Yes. In the unlikely event that you are sued as a result of a Good Samaritan act, you can apply for assistance from Medical Protection, no matter where in the world the action is brought.

 

Medical Protection defines a Good Samaritan act as one in which medical assistance is given, free of charge, in a bona fide medical emergency upon which you may chance, in a personal as opposed to a professional capacity, eg, assisting a fellow spectator at an event.

For doctors, ignoring such a predicament is never an option. When called into action while off duty, you must remember to make a full clinical record after treatment.

You must assess your own competence in handling the situation – eg, you may be under the influence of alcohol – and proceed accordingly.

Only intervene if the situation is an emergency. Any situation that is beyond your competence may still benefit from your input, to a degree. For example, you can use your clinical skills to take a history, make an examination to reach a preliminary assessment, and give an indication of the likely differential diagnosis. You can also suggest options for the management of the situation pending arrival of support. 

We consider that a response to the GoodSAM App, provided it is in accordance with the GoodSAM App code of conduct, falls within our definition of a Good Samaritan Act.

Students can apply online for free MPS membership. All other doctors can access application forms from the Join MPS section of the website (see the "Join" button at the top of the page). Please ensure you read the important information at the bottom of the page before completing the application and returning it to the address shown at the top of the form.

The application must be completed in full and signed and dated within two months of your required membership start date.

Your application can be submitted by post, fax or email.