New GMC consultation – do doctors have appropriate insurance and indemnity cover?
October 21, 2014
The General Medical Council (GMC) are considering proposing regulatory changes intended to give them the power to check that doctors have appropriate indemnity or insurance cover in place for their practice in a new GMC consultation.
The proposed changes are intended to build upon the existing duty which requires that doctors have adequate insurance or indemnity cover so that patients will not be disadvantaged if they need to make a claim about their clinical care.
The GMC consultation opened for eight weeks on Wednesday 15 October and will come to an end on Wednesday 10 December 2014.
It is hoped that the regulatory changes will give patients the assurance that they will be protected if they need to make a claim about the care they have received.
The GMC consultation includes new proposals that will allow the GMC to:
- check that any doctor practising in the UK has the appropriate cover in place, where the GMC have concerns that they may not have such cover;
- remove a doctor’s licence and stop them from practising altogether if it is found that they do not have cover in place or they fail to provide the information about their cover that the GMC ask for; and
- refuse to grant a licence to a doctor if the GMC is not provided with assurance that the doctor will have appropriate cover in place when they start practising in the UK.
If you wish to have your say in this GMC consultation you can do so online at the GMC web site.
Altrnatively, you can download a response form (pdf) and:
- email it to I&Iregs@gmc-uk.org or
- post it to:Iona Milton-Jones
General Medical Council
3 Hardman Street
Manchester
M3 3AW
