The Department of Health has issued a statement on the indemnity offer made by MDU following the Government’s recent announcement on a state-backed indemnity scheme. 

Commenting, Simon Kayll, CEO at the Medical Protection Society (MPS), said:

"While the MDU offer may be appealing at first glance, GPs should understand that they are being given a different indemnity product, not a discount on their current arrangement.  The statement from the Department of Health today confirms this.

“The indemnity product the MDU is moving its GP members in England onto is significantly different to traditional occurrence-based indemnity. The lack of transparency is concerning - there has never been a more important time for GPs to have access to all the facts so they can balance risks against benefits and make an informed choice that is right for them.

“MDU members have been given little choice but to move onto a different product and pay additional fees at the end of their membership to ensure they are fully protected from claims that could still arise from their time with the MDU. This is known as ‘run off cover’. This future protection, which is automatically built into MPS’s occurrence-based indemnity, is essential given that it can be 5 years or more between an incident taking place and the resulting claim and GPs need to be aware of this.

“This step was also taken at a time when crucial details about the proposed state-backed indemnity scheme, and how it will operate, are unknown.  The Department of Health has today made it very clear that it does not currently plan to include this run off cover in the new scheme – the GP members of the MDU will have to purchase it separately themselves when they join the new scheme and there is no guarantee on whether it will be available or what the fee will be.

“This is precisely why MPS has been pushing for the detail to be developed swiftly and acting with caution, rather than rushing into decisions.”

 Notes to editors

For further information / the DH statement see the addendum on page 3 of the Department of Health fact sheet