General Practice Indemnity

Rising indemnity costs have been an increasing source of concern for general practice for a number of years. In order to address the concern, and ensure general practice remains an attractive long-term career option, the Department of Health and Social Care recently introduced a more stable and affordable state indemnity scheme for the system.

NHS Resolution started operating the state indemnity scheme for general practice in England in April 2019. The Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice covers clinical negligence liabilities arising in general practice in relation to incidents that occured on or after 1 April 2019.

On 6 April 2020, the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice (ELSGP), was established to provide indemnity cover for NHS clinical negligence claims made against current and former GP members of medical defence organisations (MDOs) in respect of liabilities incurred before 1 April 2019.  This is where terms have been agreed with MDOs in relation to indemnity provision for their GP members under the ELSGP.

By bringing clinical negligence indemnity cover for the majority of general practice NHS activities in England under one roof, we now have access to the learning from NHS clinical negligence claims spanning general practice and secondary care, and are able to better understand what can be done in a consistent way to reduce claims and improve patient safety.