Professional Indemnity

All GDC registrants are required to make sure there are adequate and appropriate arrangements in place so that patients can claim any compensation they may be entitled to.

The GDC is looking at the options for strengthening or expanding on the guidance it already gives in Standards for Dental Professionals. In the meantime, we have published the following answers to registrants' frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Standards for dental professionals:

“Make sure your patients are able to claim any compensation they may be entitled to by making sure you are protected against claims at all times, including past periods of practice.”

Does each registrant have to have their own professional indemnity insurance and/or be a member of a defence organisation?

If you have provided advice or treatment*  to patients, whether currently or in the past, you must have arrangements in place so that, should they suffer damage, they are able to recover any money due to them by way of compensation in the event of a successful claim, whenever the claim is made. The only appropriate arrangements recognised by the GDC are:

• dental defence organisation membership, i.e. Dental Protection, Dental Defence Union and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (whether your own membership or employer’s membership)**
• professional indemnity insurance held by yourself or your employer
• NHS indemnity.

Do I have to have cover or membership which includes legal advice and representation in GDC fitness to practise proceedings?

The GDC’s priority is that patients who suffer damage should be able to recover any money due to them by way of compensation in the event of a successful claim. Many registrants find it reassuring and helpful to know that assistance is likely to be available if they need support during GDC proceedings, but that is their choice.

Can I rely on my employer to cover my risks?

If all the work you do that could lead to claims against you by patients is carried out by you in a wholly employed context, and your employer has made arrangements which cover fully the litigation risks you run, there is no GDC rule that says you must have your own policy and/or defence organisation membership.

Do I have to check my employer’s arrangements?

If you are relying on arrangements made by your employer without arranging either a policy of your own or joining a defence organisation, you have a responsibility to check the position with your employer. The GDC does not issue detailed rules specifying the documentation you should check, but the Council would find it unacceptable for a registrant in this situation to rely on unfounded assumptions about what their employer might do. At a minimum, you should check that the issue is fully covered in your employment contract, and what the arrangements are. Examples of situations where this arrangement may apply could include a dentist wholly employed in an NHS staff post or a dental nurse employed by a general dental practice.

What if there is no risk of my being sued by patients?

Each registrant has a professional responsibility to evaluate and understand the litigation risks they may face and ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place. Risks vary, and what is appropriate can vary too. What constitutes appropriate arrangements in one case may be inadequate in another situation for a different registrant.

Equally, you may not need your own professional indemnity arrangements, if your work or the way in which your work is organised – whether currently or in the past - means that the risk of patient litigation against you personally is absolutely zero, when judged objectively. If you think this is true in your case, provided that you have reached that conclusion conscientiously, prudently and on a reasonable basis, you will have upheld your professional standards in line with Standards for dental professionals. You must make sure you keep the position under review and take appropriate action if circumstances change.

What if my risks change or I change the way in which I protect myself against those risks?

Whatever arrangements you make to protect yourself against patient litigation, you must keep those arrangements under review and be prepared to explain and justify them at any point, when asked to do so by the GDC. If your situation changes (for example because you take an extended break, or retire from clinical practice) or your arrangements change (for example because you move from an insurance-only policy approach to membership of a defence organisation), you must make sure that you understand the legal implications of those changes and take appropriate steps to protect patients whose current or future claims may be affected. This could include purchasing additional cover (run-off cover, for example) in respect of particular periods and if this is what it takes to ensure continuity of cover for patients, you must act accordingly.

If I plan to rely on an insurance policy only without joining a dental defence organisation, what points do I need to check when choosing a policy?

As in all cases, the primary responsibility rests with you to evaluate and understand the litigation risks you may face and ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place. The GDC’s Standards Committee is considering the case for providing more detailed guidance about minimally acceptable characteristics of an insurance-only approach. In the meantime the GDC would, as a minimum, expect any professional indemnity insurance to provide a similar level of support for meeting patients’ claims to that provided by one or other of the dental defence organisations. See Question 1.

* This applies whether the service or procedure you are providing is the 'practice of dentistry' or not.

**These organisations do not all operate in the same way.