General Practitioners: Indemnity Scheme

Lord Sharkey Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Sharkey]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practitioners in England.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord O’Shaughnessy) (Con)]

My Lords, in October 2017, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced his intention to develop a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practice in England. The state-backed scheme is being designed to provide more stable, affordable cover for GPs and patients. We are working with stakeholders to design the scheme and are committed to implementing it from April 2019.

[Lord Sharkey (LD)]

Will the proposed scheme cover all GP-related healthcare staff who provide services for the NHS and, if not, who will be excluded? Will the scheme cover historical liabilities, as was the case when the NHS clinical negligence scheme for trusts was introduced? What additional costs will the new scheme generate for the NHS?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

The scheme is intended to cover primary medical care services, which will also include integrated urgent care services and NHS primary care provided in secure environments. The scheme will certainly cover future liabilities, and cover for historic liabilities will depend on discussions with stakeholders and achieving value for money. As for the cost, this is a complex negotiation with multiple partners, and we are not in a positon to give costs at this point without prejudicing commercial interests. Suffice it to say, one intention of the scheme is to provide better value for money than those currently in existence.