Posts Tagged ‘Insurance’

Review says indemnity should be mandatory

By Mike Broad - 19th July 2010 10:06 am

Having insurance or indemnity should be a mandatory condition of registration for all health professionals, a review finds.

It recommends that, in order to boost public confidence, cover should be a statutory condition of registration and apply equally to all registered healthcare professionals.

Review chair, Finlay Scott, former GMC chief executive, said personal cover from a defence organisation, trade union or other body should only be required in relation to self-employed practice.

He added: “However, the role of corporate cover, as a means of satisfying the condition of registration, is not well understood and needs to be explained to registrants and others.

“It will be important to counter any impression that the…condition of registration signals a shift of responsibility from employers to employees.”

Dr Christine Tomkins, MDU chief executive, said the recommendations did not go far enough.

“We are disappointed that the review has not recommended that mandatory indemnity for doctors and dentists should be through regulated insurance policies which ensure patients are fully compensated if they are negligently harmed. This would be the right solution where NHS indemnity is not in place.”

There are about 1.4 million registered healthcare professionals in the UK. They span some 30 separate groups and are regulated by nine healthcare professional regulators.

Read the review.

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Soaring fees squeeze private practice earnings

By Francesca Robinson - 26th May 2010 3:05 pm

The increasing cost of medico-legal cover is forcing some high earning surgeons to quit their private practice.

The Medical Protection Society has had to hike subscription rates for consultants in private practice by an average of 7.5% this year - more than twice the rate of inflation.  

“This reflects our experience of the last year, where we saw an increase in the cost of clinical negligence claims brought against hospital consultants,” said Dr Iain Barclay, MPS deputy medical director.

Neurosurgeons and spinal surgeons, classified as one of the highest risk categories, earning around £100,000 after expenses from their private practice now pay more than £35,000 a year for indemnity.

“Some of them are saying it’s just not worth it. Cover for this group of doctors is so high, not because there are a lot of claims made but because any claims that are made are likely to be catastrophic,” said Barclay.

MPS reviews specialist grouping within their grades every year. This year bariatric surgeons have been moved up a risk category while hand and upper limb surgeons dropped down a group.

The Medical and Defence Union of Scotland has increased its subscription rates on average for juniors by 2.33% and 3.32% for consultants.

Medical Defence Union rates have gone up by varying amounts. A neurosurgeon earning between £10,000 and £15,000 from private practice has not had any rise in their subscription fee for 2010, but those earning between £125,000 and £175,000 are paying 6% more. An ophthalmologist not doing refractive surgery and earning between £125,000 and £175,000 is paying 5% more, but a cardiologist or an anaesthetist earning the same amount is paying only 0.5% more.

Dr James Armstrong, the MDU’s head of underwriting, said: “Despite the rate of claims inflation remaining consistently above RPI, due to factors such as rising claimants’ solicitor costs and the increasing cost of providing long term care, sound financial management has enabled the MDU to limit any increase in subscriptions.”

According to the medical accountancy firm Stanbridge Associates some consultants are suffering additional pain from a fall in their private practice earnings. 

Vanessa Sanders, a Stanbridge director, said earnings from cosmetic surgery and laser eye treatment were down about 10%, probably as a result of reduced demand during the recession.

But some other groups are doing well - orthopaedic surgeons who have been picking up extra private work from PCTs contracting out NHS work, such as hip replacement operations, have enjoyed an increased income of between 7 to 12% in some parts of the country.

Some dermatologists, who are in one of the lowest risk groups for  medico-legal cover, have been enjoying a rise in private practice income of up 12-22%.

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More support for victims of discrimination

By Francesca Robinson - 2nd March 2010 9:35 am

A new scheme designed to fill a gap in the professional services available to ethnic minority doctors facing complaints of bullying harassment and discrimination has been launched this week.

Medical Defence Shield, the brainchild of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) will uniquely provide both medical defence protection and support for employment issues under one umbrella.

Doctors will be able to pick and mix from a package of services traditionally offered separately by trade unions and medical defence organisations.

BAPIO says they receive calls every week from doctors who say they do not get the support they need when facing unsubstantiated allegations or flawed practices during a disciplinary process.

Examples of unfair treatment include cases where severe punishment has been meted out to doctors when all that was required was a programme of training or mentoring and support.

Other evidence is the disproportionately higher numbers of ethnic minority doctors reported to the GMC over their fitness to practise. Many of them have also faced trust disciplinary procedures for fairly minor issues.

Dr Satheesh Mathew, vice chair of BAPIO, said: “It is not an exaggeration to say that the traditional institutions have been known to drag their feet when it comes to supporting international medical graduates.”

MDS is being launched in two stages. The first stage, now live, offers a competitively priced package of services providing advice and representation on: terms and conditions of service; clinical and professional issues; for criminal cases arising from professional work; on training issues; in disputes arising from non NHS work and legal representation during internal inquiries, GMC and tribunal cases. 

Packages range in price from £250 to £560 for a consultant and from £200 to £273 for a specialist trainee.

The second stage, to be launched in June, will offer full professional indemnity cover and financial compensation for patient incidents not covered by standard NHS indemnity. Geared at consultants in private practice, this service is likely to be one third cheaper than existing medical defence cover.

Claims will be dealt with by doctors with a legal background. The scheme is backed by the legal firm Linder Myers and two insurance companies, Lockton International and Amicus Legal.

BAPIO president Dr Ramesh Mehta, said: “To date the medical protection market has been monopolised by just a few institutions which have been around for over 100 years. There is a lot of bureaucracy in these organisations and they have not changed with the times.

“Medical Defence Shield is an innovative and daring concept to ensure that doctors working in the NHS receive fair and just treatment. It will be available to all doctors not just those from ethnic minorities because we have realised that all doctors need this extra support. 

“Feedback from our members shows that the existing support system lacks empathy and understanding when it comes to issues of discrimination and unfair practices.”

Read further details. 

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