Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to facilitate access to professional indemnity insurance for self-employed midwives.

In England, most National Health Services are covered by the state indemnity schemes administered by NHS Resolution. Therefore, midwives working in NHS trusts, other member organisations, and general practices are covered by the state indemnity schemes, namely the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) and the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice, respectively. Where self-employed midwives are not covered by state schemes, they need to obtain independent cover which is mainly through regulated insurance or via discretionary indemnity offered primarily by medical defence organisations.

In 2020, the difficulty in accessing indemnity was highlighted by self-employed midwives. Alternative arrangements were agreed via an NHS contract which enabled self-employed midwives to be covered by the state scheme, the CNST. A number use this model, although we understand some do not.

The Department is currently considering policy measures to address gaps in the clinical indemnities system. We would be happy to take further evidence from self-employed midwives to determine issues specific to them and the scale of the problem.