Professional Protection for Medical Practitioners
Defensibility is the key.
Welcome to Healthcare Professional Protection, a tailor-made package of expertise and support for medical practitioners facing the ever-present risk of negligence claims from disgruntled patients.
With recent figures suggesting the number of complaints against the UK medical sector could double within four years, the threat to practitioners’ licences, livelihoods and reputations is unprecedented.
Select Type of Cover:
Our individual tailored approach provides the contractual security of an insurance contract regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This provides contractual certainty. Membership of a Medical Defence Organisation provides access to membership benefits entirely at the discretion of the membership organisation. Examples of memoranda & articles are below:
MDU Memorandum and Articles of Association clause 45 (3), powers of the Board of Management:
"Any such advice or legal assistance or defence may be granted or terminated by resolution of the Board of Management or any authorised committee or decision of any authorised agent and the giving of advice or legal assistance or defence in every case shall be made only upon such terms and conditions as the Board of Management committee or agent shall think proper and it shall rest only in the absolute discretion of the Board of Management committee or agent in every case to limit or restrict the giving of such advice or legal assistance or defence or altogether to decline to give the same or to terminate any advice or legal assistance or defence so given without assigning any reason."
MPS Memorandum and Articles of Association clause 40 (1), Discretionary Indemnity:
"An indemnity pursuant to clause 3(E) of the memorandum of association of the Society may be granted by the Society to any qualifying applicant in respect of a qualifying claim and all losses (whether incidental, consequential or otherwise), damages, costs, charges and expenses connected with a qualifying claim. The grant of an indemnity shall be entirely in the discretion of the Council, who shall have the power to impose such terms and conditions on the grant of any indemnity as it thinks fit, and may in its absolute discretion limit or restrict such indemnity or decline altogether to grant the same."
We are an end to end commercial alternative for the private practitioner (NHS Liabilities being dealt with by the Clinical Negligent Scheme for Trusts). Our menu of policies is as follows:
| Type of cover | What’s Covered | Typical Premium |
| Disciplinary Cover | Cover in respect of legal costs associated with representing you throughout a disciplinary process, for example a General Medical Council or General Dental Council Hearing. | £200 - £500 |
| Medico Legal Reporting | Without examining the patient | £400 - £600 |
| Medico Legal Report with examination | This cover includes medico legal reporting without examining the patient and medico legal reporting with examination | £500 - £1000 |
For all clients who undertake medico legal reporting we review reports to avoid the pitfalls highlighted in the case of Jones v Kaney (2011) and are also happy to discuss any concerns a client may have going into a joint experts meeting.
Clinical Negligence cover – the HPPB approach is to understand the work of a practitioner through the clinical work undertaken and coded via NCCS codes. We individually analysis and present each practitioner to underwriters, years of experience tell us that this is the best way to tailor cover, whether it be the indemnity limit or a proper categorisation of your risk.
For more information about our products and services please do not hesitate to contact us on + 44 (0)203 058 3733 or complete the form on this page.
That’s why safeguarding your business and reputation against potentially damaging complaints has never been more important than it is today.
Contact us to find out how Healthcare Professional Protection can help you.
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Healthcare Professional Protection
by Medical Risk Services Limited
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Why choose coverage with MRSL
FAQs
Here are some questions and answers.
Please contact us for more information.
How does cover available from commercial insurers differ from what is offered by medical defence organisations (MDOs)?
The “key differences” between the mutual (MDO) and commercial sectors were outlined by the UK’s Department of Health & Social Care in publishing its ‘Appropriate clinical negligence cover’ consultation document in November 2018, updated in February 2019.
In summary:
Cover available from the UK’s four medical defence organisations is provided as a member benefit, with each MDO able to exercise its own discretion whether – or to what extent – to assist healthcare professionals; cover purchased from a commercial operator will involve the payment of an annual insurance premium, with the terms of the policy specifying with certainty the nature and circumstances of the cover.
There is no regulatory requirement for an MDO to hold adequate reserves to meet expected future claims; any insurer operating within the UK or wider EU must comply with prudential regulatory requirements covering solvency, capital and reserves.
MDOs are not required to adhere to financial conduct regulation and are not subject to regulatory oversight by established financial regulators (the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority or Prudential Regulation Authority); all UK insurers are required to comply with regulations set out in the Financial Conduct Authority’s ‘Principles for Business’ and are required to disclose their full financial position and all relevant information to the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.
Healthcare professionals would not be eligible for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the event that an MDO was unable or unwilling to assist them; all policyholders with commercial insurers would be eligible for compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if an insurer was unable or unlikely to pay claims.
Disputes with MDOs cannot be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service; disputes with an authorised insurance firm that is still trading can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The Department of Health & Social Care’s consultation paper noted a limited number of cases in which an MDO had exercised its discretion not to support a member.
The full consultation paper is available via The Department of Health & Social Care’s website.
What is the significance of an “excess” or “deductible” outlined within an insurance policy?
An excess or deductible indicates an agreed, fixed amount that would have to be paid by the policyholder in the event of a claim being made on an insurance policy. (The exact figure is set out clearly at the time a policy is taken out.)
If, for example, a policy included an excess of £2,000, payouts would not be made for any claim worth less than this figure, or this figure would be withheld from any payout above £2,000.
Excesses are used because of the disproportionately high administrative costs associated with settling frequent, smaller claims. Settling an excess or deductible on a policy offers a more cost-effective way of providing cover – ie by reducing slightly any final payout figure but avoiding excessive administrative costs having to be added to the original policy price.
(One of the key objectives of Healthcare Professional Protection is to identify and manage potential risks, so that issues are resolved before a claim would need to be made against a client’s indemnity insurance policy.)
At MRSL, our ground-breaking Healthcare Professional Protection offers advice and comprehensive support throughout any potential disciplinary complaint or negligence claim.
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