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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Putting up the Card - Happy Birthday GMC!

Back in September, I wrote a little piece about the GMC not mentioning its birthday, I linked to their site and Dr Rita Pal and I got them cake!


And guess what, they had a little party after all!


Freely available modern wizardry enables bloggers to see who has been looking round their site. The GMC prowl blogs regularly but here, they always go straight to their birthday post!! - a bit like Billy no mates, all dressed up and nowhere to go. And lo and behold a couple of months later, they invited a few friends round and had a party!! with a special card, which they stuck on the wall.





It seems a bit bold to suggest that the two events are linked, but we live in strange times!! it always surprises me the lengths that institutions will go to preserve their appearances, and the interest that they take in certain individuals. I saw one patient who came in and before he sat down said "You know they write down everything I say". This might have seemed absurd but that the railway company concerned had sent along two dossiers of transcribed conversations to show me how completely mad he was.


Well I never Mr Catto, fancy meeting Princess Anne!




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

General Medical Council 150th anniversary

I admit I am a little bit obsessed with the GMC. I admit it, I hate institutions especially one that does as much damage as the GMC. I have talked to too many doctors on the brink of suicide because of the way the GMC treats doctors with health problems, to have much time for it. I have also had too many friends commit suicide whilst under investigation by the General Medical Council. Belinda Brewer one of the founders of the Doctors Support Network spent several years in their shadow. There is only so much one person can take.

One way to look at the General Medical Council and the consequent rise of medicine is through the eyes of history. The GMC has only been with us for 150 years. It is like the poor laws and the workhouse, a Victorian institution. Most institutions celebrate their anniversaries! why has not the GMC not sent us all a bit of its birthday cake? There is only one reference to this anniversary on the website.

The supremacy of medicine is a twentieth century thing. Unravelling DNA has not produced any wild insights, and biotech firms failed to deliver on their promises, so perhaps medicine too, has had its day. After all, we have not always had GMC revalidated doctors. More and more people are looking elsewhere to manage their health and well being. Rather than trying to the stick the head back on a dinosaur, perhaps the time has come to admit doctors are just one of many healing arts available to the modern discerning consumer.

Possibly by trying to appear older, the GMC hopes to appear more impressive. Because 150 years is not a long time amongst the thousands of years of human history during which time people have helped each other overcome injury and disease. The GMC is not even as old as America! Maybe on balance Mr Catto and the GMC feel it is best to hush the whole thing up.

The General Medical Council 1858

The Royal Automobile Club 1889

St James Club 1857

Theodore Roosevelt born 1858

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMC !!!

Copyright (c) Dr. Liz Miller
http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk/