ALL of our members have received a letter asking you to vote for the proposed Scheme of Arrangement. Here’s why.
The Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) came into place in England on 1 April last year, covering all new claims by English GPs from that date.
MDDUS is now mirroring this with an arrangement for the existing liabilities of English GPs that transfers responsibilities for these to the government, regardless of the date of the adverse incident that gave rise to a claim.
We’re doing this because we think it will provide greater clarity for our English GP members by making sure all claims are handled on a consistent basis.
For this to happen, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has sought to put in place, with all the medical defence organisations, arrangements that are substantially equivalent to the CNSGP. These will be backwards looking, covering the period before 1 April 2019 because CNSGP is prospective, not retrospective.
To finalise this legally, MDDUS is going through a legal process called a “Scheme of Arrangement” and this requires a vote of approval by all our members.
This only affects the MDDUS membership benefits of English GPs which relate to clinical negligence claims arising from their work for the NHS in England before 1 April 2019. Other members and former members of MDDUS will not be affected.
It is really important to stress that if you are a GP practising in England, you will remain a valued member of MDDUS.
Your membership is not being transferred to DHSC. And MDDUS will continue to provide you with access to your other benefits and/or categories of indemnity protection which fall outside the scope of the transaction.
We believe the agreement provides English GP members with certainty that DHSC is responsible for providing discretionary indemnity via CNSGP, and that the discretionary indemnity and assistance in respect of their historic liabilities arising from the clinical negligence incurred in their NHS-funded work will also be provided by DHSC in future.
We therefore strongly urge all our members to vote in favour of the Scheme by the deadline of 7 February 2020.
If you have any questions, call our helpline on +44 (0) 333 043 4444
Dr Jonathan Berry, Chair of MDDUS
This page was correct at the time of publication. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.