NHS England Winter Indemnity Scheme information for members

In recognition of the winter pressures faced by primary care services, NHS England has announced they will be undertaking a winter indemnity scheme, which will run from 1 October 2018 until 31 March 2019.

The scheme is designed to cover the cost of personal professional indemnity for any additional out of hours (OOH) / unscheduled care work undertaken by GPs this winter so they can take on extra sessions if they are able without an increase in their subscriptions.

If you are a GP member of Medical Protection and would like to take part in the NHS England Winter Indemnity Scheme, please click below for a call back from a member services adviser.  

Please provide:

1. Name
2. Membership number
3. Contact number
4. Preferred call back time (Mon-Fri 8am-6.30pm)

Click here to arrange a call back

What is the scheme?

This scheme will cover the costs of professional indemnity for any additional out of hours/unscheduled work undertaken by GPs this winter. . This scheme will run from 1 October 2018 until 31 March 2019. 

It will be fully funded by NHS England, and will be in addition to your usual indemnity arrangements. 

What additional out of hours / unscheduled care work is included?

We define scheduled care as work undertaken during the scheduled opening hours of the practice (8am-8pm Mon-Sun) where registered patients are seen by appointment and where staff have access to the patient’s full general practice records.

Unscheduled care is anything that falls outside of scheduled care. This includes care given at any time in walk in / urgent care centres.

This scheme is designed to meet the costs of indemnifying additional out of hours/unscheduled care work only and is only for sessions where the GP would otherwise have been responsible for providing their own indemnity arrangements, and not where the out of hours/ unscheduled care work provider already provides indemnity. .

NHS England will only fund up to 6 additional sessions per week during the scheme period.

How to apply:

1. You must contact your out of hours/unscheduled care provider to agree and confirm your additional sessions. Note that you can only apply for additional sessions under the Winter Indemnity Scheme where authorised to do so by your out of hours/ unscheduled care provider.
2. You should also check with your out of hours/ unscheduled care provider whether they are to fall under the Winter Indemnity Scheme. MPS will not extend the benefits of membership in respect of out of hours/ unscheduled care work where this work is indemnified elsewhere (either by the out of hours/ unscheduled care work provider itself or through another indemnifier or insurer.
3. Where the additional sessions are not included in your out of hours/ unscheduled care provider's pre-existing corporate indemnity arrangements, you will be able to apply to Medical Protection to add these additional sessions to your current membership, with payment being made directly to us by NHS England. You will need to confirm the name, address and contact details of the out of hours/unscheduled care provider when you apply, as well as confirm the number of sessions that you will be working, as agreed with them.
4. To process reimbursement from NHS England we will share certain information with them including your name, details of the out of hours/ unscheduled care work sessions you will be working and the other information you have provided to us. To take part in the Winter Indemnity Scheme you agree to this information sharing.
5. be aware that NHS England may audit payments made under the Winter Indemnity Scheme and take steps to verify with out of hours/ unscheduled care providers that additional sessional commitments have been delivered.

For further information please contact [email protected]

Changes to your agreed number of sessions

If your situation changes and you are no longer able to undertake the number of sessions agreed with your out of hours/ unscheduled care provider, it is important that you notify Medical Protection of this change immediately. Please do so by requesting a call back via the link above. If you would like to increase the number of out of hours/ unscheduled care sessions you work, please also notify us in the same way and before you undertake these sessions. 

Please note that Medical Protection may adjust members’ subscriptions or withdraw the benefits of membership in respect of out of hours/unscheduled care work that is not reimbursable under the Winter Indemnity Scheme. All of the benefits of membership of MPS remain discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.