Responding to the Department of Health publishing FAQs on state-backed indemnity for General Practice, Rob Hendry, Medical Director at Medical Protection, said: 

“The further information provided today is welcome but is only the tip of the iceberg. Far greater detail needs to be worked through and shared by both the Department of Health and the Welsh Government before we will feel comfortable that the new schemes will provide the right level of support and also that it fulfils the ambition of protecting GPs from the rising costs of clinical negligence.

“The new state-backed scheme will not provide expert advice and support for GMC investigations, complaints, criminal investigations or disciplinary hearings. Once the state-backed indemnity scheme is launched, we will continue to protect and support GPs with problems they encounter from clinical practice, in the same way that we have done for hospital doctors since NHS indemnity was introduced for them in 1990. In the meantime, it is essential that GPs have continuous indemnity in place up to the time they join the new scheme to ensure they are protected against clinical negligence claims and to meet GMC requirements.  

“GP members working in the NHS can expect to pay less for their membership with Medical Protection once the state-backed indemnity is introduced. This is because the potential cost of clinical negligence claims accounts for a significant amount of the membership subscription they currently pay. Removing or reducing the indemnity component when they move to the state-backed scheme will therefore reduce the cost of their membership subscription.

“Membership with Medical Protection will automatically be amended to remove the indemnity element for clinical negligence claims once the state-backed scheme launches. At that time we will revise membership subscriptions and – where applicable – provide a refund to reflect any changes.”

ENDS

For further information contact: [email protected] +44 (0) 207 640 5290