Medical Protection Society, Medical Defence Union or Bareback?

How well do the defence societies help doctors in difficulty with their employers and the GMC?



Crown Indemnity protects National Health Service doctors from claims of negligence, so why join a defence union?

1 - To provide medical insurance for private practice

2 - To defend them in a court of law and represent them from accusations of negligence, where their Trust fails to protect their interest

3 - To provide legal representation should he or she come before the GMC and Trusts


The most important difference between the Medical Defence Union and the Medical Protection Society lies in the third area.


When choosing a defence body, or other legal insurance, the doctor needs to know whether their defence body colludes with the GMC and NHS Trusts, whether they abandon doctors at the first sign of trouble and whether they act fairly and ethically and whether they have the doctor's interest at heart.

One example might be, how do the defence bodies view a capability hearing? Do they understand that going to a capability hearing is the single worst move any doctor can make? Would the doctor be better joining a Trade Union? At least Trade Unions understand the dangers of a capability hearing

For whom does the defence body work for?

The GMC, the Trust, Zurich Insurance or their doctors?

In the coming weeks, I will see how the Defence Bodies score in their


1 - legal knowledge and understanding of the GMC processes
2 - understanding of employment law
3 - understanding of Trust, GMC and relevant quasijudicial processes
4 - Moral and ethical stance, did they support the doctor and help them through one of the most difficult periods of their career, or did they abandon the doctor without legal assistance

and most importantly:
5 - Outcome: whether doctors were sacked, reached compromise agreements, ended up in the GMC or were able to get back to the work

If you know someone who has experience of the MDU or MPS, or other assistance scheme, please email me at liz at liz miller dot co dot uk

I will post my conclusions in due course Click here for more information

Copyright (c) Liz Miller
http://www.lizmiller.info/



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