Update on Government’s Existing Liabilities Scheme

It is expected that the Government’s Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice Regulations will come into force on 6 April 2020. These regulations will create a new state indemnity scheme for general practice in England called the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice (ELSGP).

This scheme relates to claims for compensation arising from the care, diagnosis and treatment of a patient by MDDUS members in connection with the provision of NHS primary medical services (and, in some circumstances, other ancillary NHS services provided by general practice) in England before 1 April 2019 (Applicable Claims).

When the ELSGP comes into force, the scheme will be administered by NHS Resolution (the operating name of the NHS Litigation Authority), on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and, in the first instance, NHS Resolution will assume responsibility for Applicable Claims.  At the same time, MDDUS’ obligations in respect of Applicable Claims shall cease. NHS Resolution is a Special Health Authority with responsibility for carrying out the administration functions of the Secretary of State under state indemnity schemes providing indemnity in relation to clinical negligence claims for liabilities arising from the provision of NHS services as part of the NHS for England. You can find more information on what NHS Resolution do here.

Therefore, to enable the effective and orderly migration of Applicable Claims and claims handling responsibilities to NHS Resolution, MDDUS is required to provide NHS Resolution with full details relating to any Applicable Claims.   This shall include the transfer of data (including personal data) from MDDUS to NHS Resolution.

Categories of personal data that may transfer from MDDUS to NHS Resolution include: names of claimants; details of claims including injuries suffered; claimants’ ongoing condition; names of defendants (including details of the applicable MDDUS member(s)); details of claimant solicitors; and information relating to experts involved in claims.

MDDUS will retain a copy of the data transferred to NHS Resolution in line with our retention policy. At MDDUS, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Any transfer of personal data as described above will be done through secure processes, including encrypted data transmissions. Please see our privacy notice (here) for further information.

To the extent that personal data is supplied by MDDUS to NHS Resolution, this will be a ‘controller to controller’ transfer and, accordingly, NHS Resolution shall act as a data controller in its own right in relation to the transferred personal data.  Please also see NHS Resolution’s privacy notice (here) for further information as to how NHS Resolution will manage the personal data we transfer.

If you have any questions regarding this or about our privacy practices, please contact us on the below details:

  • E-mail: dpo@mddus.com  - mark your query for the attention of the Data Protection Officer
  • General Enquiries:  advice@mddus.com
  • Telephone: 0333 043 4444.

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.

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