PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: Tuesday, 4 October 2016
The medical defence organisation MDDUS is keen to dispel the myth that contacting the organisation’s advice line impacts on the subscription rates members pay.
Members are encouraged to seek advice from MDDUS’ highly-skilled team of medico-legal and dento-legal advisers at the earliest opportunity – and are not penalised for doing so.
MDDUS chief executive Chris Kenny said: “As we have repeatedly made clear to the BMA and a number of LMCs who raise this issue, we can give a categorical assurance that the underwriting and pricing decisions of MDDUS are not affected by the number of times members contact the organisation for advice.
“Indeed, MDDUS positively encourages members to make use of the 24-hour advice line that is available to them as a benefit of membership. We believe seeking our advice will assist the member in adopting safer clinical practice and we would never penalise them for contacting us for advice.
“Our subscriptions are calculated to reflect likely future costs, including claims which have occurred but not yet been reported to us, based on our previous claims experience and incorporating expert actuarial and underwriting analysis.
“We take into account many factors including number of sessions worked as well as doctors’ professional duties and responsibilities. We strive to ensure that our rates represent the very best value possible.”
MDDUS handled almost 15,000 calls to the advice line from members in 2015 on topics ranging from patient complaints to confidentiality issues. Our advisers also replied to well over a thousand emails from members.
MDDUS Joint Head of Medical Division Dr John Holden added: “We encourage members to be risk aware and proactive in seeking advice early rather than allow problems to escalate into formal complaints or legal claims further down the line.
“Often our members fear the worst, but in many cases we can reassure them about the consequences of a particular issue and put it into perspective. Members find our service very approachable and as a result are comfortable about ringing or emailing us again in the future.”
Ends
For further information contact Richard Hendry on 0845 270 2034 or 07976 272266, or email rihendry@mddus.com.
Note to editors
MDDUS (The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland) is a medical and dental defence organisation providing access to professional indemnity and expert medico- and dento-legal advice for doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals throughout the UK.
For further information on MDDUS go to www.mddus.com.
This page was correct at the time of publication. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.