How we price membership subscriptions

General practice is an increasingly challenging and high-risk environment in which to practise medicine. Simon Kayll, Chief Executive of Medical Protection, explains how we assess those risks and calculate GP membership subscriptions

Medical Protection is a not-for-profit organisation that exists purely for the benefit of our members, with no shareholders to pay dividends to. All subscriptions go towards helping you deal with the challenges that you face in your professional practice. The discretionary nature of our membership also means that we may be able to assist in unusual circumstances that could fall outside of a standard contract.

A challenging environment

General Practitioners work in an increasingly challenging environment, in which litigation, complaints and appearances before the regulator are now becoming more common. Outside of Scotland, a full-time GP is expected to be twice as likely to receive a claim for clinical negligence compared to just seven years ago.

More UK primary care claims were reported to us in 2014 than ever before. While some of these claims will run into thousands of pounds, others will involve millions, which far outstrips the amount a GP will pay for professional protection over the course of their entire career.

We share your concern about the cost of clinical negligence. On your behalf, we continue to challenge the Government to consider action to reduce this, as it negatively impacts the level of member subscriptions and, as far as the costs incurred by the NHS are concerned, it diverts funds away from patient care.

We also take action to manage claims costs through managing our legal relationships and treating each case carefully on its merits. We are mindful of the needs to use member funds carefully and to balance the needs of the individual member with those of the collective membership.

Setting money aside to protect your future

We are dedicated to giving you world-class defence, advice and support, tailored to your individual circumstances.

Your membership is ‘occurrence-based’, which means that it allows you to request assistance with a claim or complaint that was caused by an incident that occurred during your time as a member - even if you only became aware of it much later and after your membership ended.

This is helpful because the nature of negligence claims means that it can often be years before a case is brought and fully resolved.  

We respond to this in how we calculate membership subscriptions. A lot of detailed and robust actuarial work is undertaken, assessing trends in the size of claims and in the likelihood of claims for your area of practice. We build this into subscriptions so that we have enough funds set aside as reserves for claims as yet unreported, as they fall due in future years. This means we can be confident of being there for you, as we have been since 1892.

As a GP you can also receive much more from us by getting together with colleagues and joining our Practice Xtra group scheme, which combines a discount on membership with a range of added-value education and risk management services.

Links

• Find out more about the Practice Xtra Group Scheme
• Find out more about the benefits of membership
• Read more about Medical Protection's non-for-profit status
• Read how we tackle the cost of clinical negligence

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Please note: Medical Protection does not maintain this article and therefore the advice given may be incorrect or out of date, and may not constitute a definitive or complete statement of the legal, regulatory and/or clinical environment. MPS accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the advice given, in particular where the legal, regulatory and/or clinical environment has changed. Articles are not intended to constitute advice in any specific situation, and if you are a member you should contact Medical Protection for tailored advice. All implied warranties and conditions are excluded, to the maximum extent permitted by law.