Graduate medical students commencing work in the public hospital system will be covered under the relevant State and Territory Government’s professional indemnity insurance policy for negligence claims arising during the course of the discharge of their duties within the public hospital system. The cover offered is usually limited to negligence claims and will not usually extend to legal advice and assistance regarding complaints and representation before investigatory bodies and tribunals.
Tort law reform in many jurisdictions in the recent years has resulted in a reduction in the number of negligence claims being made against medical practitioners.
The reduction in medical negligence claims has been accompanied by an increase in the number of complaints being made to State and Territory based registration and complaints bodies (the Health Care Complaints Commission in New South Wales and its equivalents in other States and Territories), and bodies such as Medicare Australia and other regulatory bodies, including the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.
Generally speaking, the indemnity cover provided to medical practitioners employed in State and Territory public health systems extends to negligence claims only. When faced with a disciplinary (or other) complaint a medical practitioner may find him or her self on his own. While professional associations can and do offer assistance and advice to medical practitioners in these circumstances, this assistance often does not extend to funding legal advice and representation for individual members.
In addition to the possibility of a complaint, as a member of a treating team in the public hospital, it is foreseeable that at some stage an employed medical practitioner may be required to provide a statement to, or give evidence before, a Coronial Inquiry. While advice and assistance is generally available to the employed medical practitioner by the employer, should a conflict arise amongst members of the treating team, that employed medical practitioner may ultimately be faced with the need to secure his or own representation.
When commencing, or during, employment with a State or Territory based health system medical practitioners should give careful consideration to obtaining their own insurance cover. That is, separate cover and/or in addition to the cover provided by the employer’s insurer. In addition to access to legal advice and representation, the professional and personal support services offered by medical indemnity providers to their members can be invaluable. The stresses and strains which accompany the receipt of a complaint, and the complaints process, often take medical practitioners by surprise, and can be particularly difficult for junior medical practitioners who are generally inexperienced in dealing with such matters.
The polices and products offered by insurers may differ, and enquiries should be made of medical indemnity providers regarding the policies and products available to medical practitioners employed in the public health system.
Graduate medical practitioners may think indemnity cover an unnecessary expense in the early stages of a career, the benefits of same, if needed, can be considerable.
Scott Chapman
Partner
Phone: 61 2 9228 9317
Scott_Chapamn@tresscox.com.au
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Dominique Egan
Partner
Phone: 61 2 9228 9261
Dominique_Egan@tresscox.com.au
To see the contact details of the entire TressCox Health Services Team please click here.
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