Our history and values

Our history

MPS was formed in 1892 to provide support for doctors facing legal claims and to expose charlatanism and quackery.

Nowadays, MPS provides membership for healthcare professionals representing the full spectrum of clinical specialties, from places as far apart as Ireland and New Zealand, Hong Kong and Jamaica.

Services to members have expanded over the years in order to meet the original remit – to protect and safeguard the professional reputations of individual members and the professions to which they belong. This does not mean that we are anti-patient – far from it.

Our values

Fairness is at the heart of how we conduct our business. We actively protect and promote the interests of members and the wider profession. Equally, we believe that patients who have suffered harm from negligent treatment should receive fair compensation. We promote safer practice by running risk management and education programmes to reduce avoidable harm.

Integrity is a core value of all we do. As an ethical organisation, we place a high value on being moral and fair in our dealings, both with members and external suppliers.

A commitment to the ethos of mutuality – to serve the individual and common interests of members – makes MPS an entirely service-driven medical defence organisation. MPS staff have only two overriding objectives – to provide a high-quality personal service and to preserving, through good stewardship, the society’s financial health.

We firmly believe in being transparent and open in how we conduct business. All authority ultimately rests with MPS Council, a body elected by the membership.

The Council’s obligations and powers (in addition to those imposed on or granted to it by law) are set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. A copy of this is sent to members when they join MPS.