Waiting times for paediatric mental health services are longer than ever. Dr Emma Davies, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, looks at the potential impact on primary care.

Medical Protection provides assistance in about 30 cases a year in the UK where doctors are involved in allegations of criminal activity arising from their day-to-day work. Dr Emma Davies, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, looks at why these issues happen and what we can do to assist you.

A common query received by Medical Protection is concern about the ability of a patient to drive safely and whether it would be appropriate to make a disclosure to the relevant authority. Dr Heidi Mounsey, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, looks at the guidance and an example case study.

Recently, awareness of the effects of the menopause and its treatment options have been the subject of media attention. Dr Rachel Birch, Medicolegal Consultant and member of Medical Protection’s Menopause Network, discusses lessons that can be learned from analysis of our case files.

General practice is under particular pressure from workplace stress and burned-out staff. Here we look at some ways to manage these situations and bring about improvements in wellbeing.

Following the rise in popularity of medical tourism and long NHS waiting lists, patients are seeking more medical treatment abroad. Julie Baylis, Case Manager at Medical Protection, explores the recent trend of patients seeking bariatric surgery overseas and returning to the UK for follow up care.

Patients often choose to email practices in the hope of receiving prompt answers to their medical queries. Dr Rachel Birch, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, offers some practical tips to help reduce risk and manage email contact safely.

In late 2022 Medical Protection celebrated 15 years of its flagship Ethics For All conference in South Africa. During this year’s webinar for healthcare professionals, Dr Blesset Nkambule and Dr Zarina Sonday, Medicolegal Consultants at Medical Protection, took delegates through a series of frequently asked questions they come across while assisting Medical Protection members.

As a doctor or healthcare professional, your career deserves the best protection against claims of clinical negligence. There are two main types of professional indemnity and the differences can take time to understand. This article helps explain the difference between occurrence-based and claims-made protection.

Dr Lucy Hanington, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, stresses the importance of having a diverse pool of medical experts to call on.

A medical student considers their early learnings from medical school so far and what they wish they had been told to consider when starting their gruelling studies.

Both legislation and the GMC’s guidance emphasise that doctors should presume that adults have the capacity to consent to or refuse a proposed treatment unless it can be established that they lack that capacity.

Consent is an individualised process based on respect – it is more than a signature on a form, says medicolegal adviser Dr Gordon McDavid

General practice is under increasing strain, causing greater pressure on the whole practice team. Sam McCaffrey explores the greatest causes of stress amongst practice managers, and offers tips on how to increase resilience and avoid burnout.