Search Hill Dickinson

Beware the perils of no indemnity cover

Details

‘You must take out adequate insurance or professional indemnity cover for any part of your practice not covered by an employer’s indemnity scheme, in your patients’ interests as well as your own.’ (GMC: Good Medical Practice, 2003)

The recent case of Irvine -v- General Medical Council [2017] EWHC 2038 (Admin)  serves as a salient reminder to all clinicians of the need to have continuous indemnity cover in place for their practice. Section 44C of the Medical Act 2003 (as amended) provides that a person holding a licence to practise as a medical practitioner, and indeed practising as a medical practitioner, must have in force an indemnity arrangement for appropriate cover. For practitioners working solely for NHS trusts, appropriate cover will be provided by NHS Resolution (formerly the NHS LA) through the trust’s membership of the CNST scheme.

In very brief terms, Mr Irvine was found by the GMC (and confirmed on appeal) not to have had the appropriate cover in place for a five year period – Mr Irvine said any apparent gap in his indemnity cover was due to poor administrative practice. This was not accepted by the MTPS (Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service), or by the Administrative Court on appeal. Mr Irvine was found guilty of dishonesty and struck off the GMC register.

For those practitioners working in private practice, irrespective of whether they also have an NHS practice, separate indemnity cover must be arranged. This will include clinicians with practising privileges at private hospitals, even if those privileges are not currently being exercised.

It is the responsibility of the healthcare professional to ensure that appropriate indemnity cover is in place.

We are experienced at providing assistance and advice in relation to coverage points and representing healthcare professionals before their regulatory bodies.

Health and social care

With a team of over 250 lawyers, we are one of the leading firms providing legal advice and support to national and international healthcare and life sciences organisations.

From NHS bodies to private providers and practitioners to insurance practices, our multi-disciplinary legal expertise covers the full spectrum of healthcare law including, litigation, commercial, regulatory, employment, investigations and inquests, real estate and disciplinary law. As a full-service international law firm, we take a scalable approach to service delivery, providing immediate access to high-quality legal advice across the full spectrum.

We are committed to working in partnership with our clients, fostering philosophies that are mutually beneficial. Our expertise and experience mean that we understand the issues you face and the clear and practical advice that you require, especially as services and systems become more integrated. We can help you manage risk and obtain better value for money enabling you to improve services and outcomes.

You can also access our webinar resources that are designed specifically for our health clients - covering topics that may affect you.