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Primary care membership options

Find out about membership options for GPs, GPSTs, Practice Managers and GP practices.

PRIMARY CARE MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS

 

Welcome to the GP indemnity hub - where you can access information about the state-backed indemnity schemes for GPs and others working in general practice in England and Wales.
We actively campaigned for support for GPs from the moment the UK Government announced it was changing the PIDR.
 We consistently pushed for reforms that addressed the issues within primary care, and worked with the UK and Welsh governments to ensure that the state-backed schemes were fair and met the needs of GP members.
We secured agreement for the Government to provide comprehensive clinical negligence protection for members in general practice in England and Wales.

In February 2017, the UK Government made a substantial change to the way in which personal injury compensation payments are calculated. The decision to lower the personal injury discount rate (PIDR) saw the rate at which payments are calculated fall from 2.5% to minus 0.75%, resulting in a significant increase to the cost of settling large clinical negligence claims, especially for GPs.

What's happened since then?

There have been a number of developments relating to clinical negligence indemnity since the PIDR change, including how the discount rate is set for England and Wales. The expectation is that in the future the rate will be set at a higher level and reviewed more often to avoid sudden changes. The UK and Welsh governments also introduced state-backed indemnity schemes for GPs and others working in general practice in England and Wales.

What does state-backed indemnity mean for me?

Both the England and Wales state-backed indemnity schemes provide indemnity against clinical negligence claims arising from NHS contracted work – in a similar arrangement to the NHS indemnity scheme for NHS hospital doctors. The schemes do not include indemnity for non-contracted NHS work, or provide support for complaints, GMC inquiries, inquests and disciplinary proceedings. Medical Protection continues to offer this support to general practice members, just as we have for hospital doctors since NHS indemnity was introduced for them in 1990.

Find out what state-backed indemnity  means for you and your Medical Protection membership.

Campaigning for you

We were absolutely clear from the outset that members working in general practice should not have to shoulder any additional financial burden as a result of the Government’s decision to amend the PIDR, and have consistently pushed for them to provide comprehensive support for GPs and others working in general practice. 

We campaigned to ensure that the impact of the amended PIDR was fully understood and properly taken into account in governmental decisions. As a result, in addition to the state-backed schemes for new claims (known as the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice or CNSGP in England), an Existing Liabilities Scheme (ELS) has also been introduced for general practice members in England. This means that the UK and Welsh governments have assumed responsibility for all existing claims against those members working in general practice where the adverse incident date was before 1 April 2019, as well as for claims that are brought after 1 April 2019 – so long as these claims relate to treatment under a NHS contract.

This is a really positive outcome, and is a similar approach to the one that was taken for hospital doctors when their arrangements were introduced in 1990, which is something we had argued for since the proposals for state-backed GP indemnity were first announced.

We have included some Existing Liabilities Q&As to help answer any questions you may have.




GP indemnity articles
News and updates 27/11/2018

The importance of professional protection

The importance of professional protection

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Click to read through the reasons why retaining professional protection for help with these challenges is so important.

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News and updates 21/09/2018

Medical indemnity guidance from the BMA

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Medical indemnity guidance from the BMA

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The BMA has recently updated their site with some medical indemnity guidance for GPs . Included in this guidance is their assertion that clinicians working in primary care will still need to retain their MDO membership.

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Press release 14/05/2018

The Welsh Government has announced its intention to introduce a state...

The Welsh Government has announced its intention to introduce a state-backed scheme for clinical negligence indemnity, for GPs in Wales

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Simon Kayll, CEO at the Medical Protection Society (MPS), commented on the Welsh Government's announcement of its intention to introduce a state-backed scheme for clinical negligence indemnity, for GPs in Wales

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News and updates 08/03/2018

Government GP indemnity survey

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Government GP indemnity survey

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The Government is surveying GP professionals in England to gain a clearer understanding of their needs ahead of the new state-backed scheme.

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GP indemnity case studies
Case report 18/07/2019

An early presentation

An early presentation

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Baby T was eight weeks old when his mother brought him to his GP’s morning surgery. His mother had become increasingly concerned about his general irritability and frequent crying episodes, which lasted up to two hours. These had become apparent over the past three days, not settling with breast feeding.

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Case report 18/07/2019

Back again with cauda equina syndrome

Back again with cauda equina syndrome

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When Mrs C, a keen golfer in her early forties, began to experience constant pain in her lower back, she consulted a GP at her local surgery. Dr P took a history of slow onset of pain with restricted mobility. He did not examine her, but prescribed an NSAID and advised Mrs C to return in two weeks if there was no improvement.

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Case report 27/11/2018

Video: Two years of Multiple Jeopardy

Video: Two years of Multiple Jeopardy

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A patient dies after amoxicillin reaction – we support GP through criminal investigation, inquest and GMC hearing.

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Case report 13/12/2017

Anatomy of a claim

Anatomy of a claim

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Back pain, paraplegia and a series of complaints – how Medical Protection helped at every step.

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Case report 13/12/2017

Multiple Jeopardy

Multiple Jeopardy

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A patient dies after amoxicillin reaction – we support GP through criminal investigation, inquest and GMC hearing.

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