The MDS Comprehensive plan and the Clinical Defence plan automatically include an insurance backed cover for NHS Category 2 work for gross income upto £5,000 per annum for GPs and £1,000 per annum for hospital doctors.
If your gross annual income from Category 2 work exceeds the above, contact us to upgrade your cover.
Category 2 work is non-contractual work, done as part of your employment and is therefore not covered under NHS Crown Indemnity. This includes fee paying work undertaken to provide additional services such as the following:
Hospital Doctors: Coroners reports, police statements, medical certificates, cremation forms, reports requested by courts.
Psychiatrists: Section 12 (Mental Health Act) and DoLS assessments.
General Practitioners: Examinations and reports required by a person or third party primarily to serve the interests of the person, his or her employer or other third party, in non-clinical contexts such as insurance, DVLA, superannuation, foreign travel or emigration – only if done for patients on the practice list. This does not include any private procedures which do not form part of the standard NHS contracted service.
Public Health Doctors: work done for local authorities, vaccinations.
Important: Category 2 cover does not include private practice and/or medico-legal reporting or expert reports commissioned on a private basis. If you are undertaking any private practice or work that is not covered under NHS Indemnity or Category 2, please be advised that you will require additional indemnity/medical malpractice insurance to cover the full scope of your practice. Contact us to obtain a tailored quote.
Frequently asked questions
You must make sure that you have adequate and appropriate insurance or indemnity arrangements in place, covering the full scope of your medical practice in the UK.
If you work for an NHS Trust or Board, indemnity is provided through the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) in England.
If you carry out any private or independent practice, you must arrange adequate and appropriate insurance or indemnity (even if this work takes place on NHS or HSC body premises). This applies even if the work is in addition to work you do for an NHS or HSC body. If you are treating NHS patients privately, you must check with your NHS or HSC body employer to confirm that indemnity is in place.
For GPs working in England and Wales, this is included in your normal NHS contracts of employment. For Locum GPs in Wales, you must be registered on the All Wales Locum Register (AWLR). CNSGP scheme is valid only for GPs in England and Wales. For Scotland, you must ensure you are covered under CNORIS.
You will still need to maintain membership with a medical defence body (MDO) and trade union to cover services such as patient complaints, regulatory (GMC) and disciplinary proceedings, employment and contractual disputes.
For more information on the Clinical Negligence Scheme for NHS Trusts and General Practice, refer to the latest GMC guidelines here.
Get in touch
If you require a quote or have a query, please submit your request using this form.
For indicative rates and to join online, see: mdsuk.org/membership-types/