Essential Requirements
a) Full General Registration
In order to practice independently in any health care setting without supervision, a doctor must hold a certificate of full registration with the Irish Medical Council. The Medical Council provide an annual Certificate of Registration following the presentation of required documents and the payment of an annual registration fee.
b) Professional Indemnity
All doctors must have adequate professional indemnity for the work they perform. There are three medical indemnity insurance providers currently operating in Ireland. Subscriptions or premiums to medical defence organisations are a significant expense for most non established GPs. The rate of subscription is based on income, whether one is in full time or part time practice. It is recommended to review all available indemnity options to choose one that best matches one's current mode of practice.
The Medical Defence Union
The Medical Defence Union (MDU) is a UK based company providing indemnity cover to Irish doctors. The MDU has a free phone number (1800 509 143). Payment can be made by monthly direct debit. For further information log on to http://www.medicalprotection.org/ireland/. Both the MDU and MPS offer 'occurrence or incident based' indemnity schemes which give protection for claims arising from incidents that occurred during the subscription period no matter when they are reported, even if it is many years after that subscription period has ceased. This provides ongoing protection at retirement or death - the latter prevents one's estate being liable for claims.
Medisec
Medisec is an Irish company owned by its GP members. It was set up by Irish GPs to arrange a fair deal in professional indemnity insurance for GPs. The Medisec insurance policy is underwritten by Allianz plc. Medisec can be contacted directly by Freephone 1800 460 400. Further information can be found on the Medisec website www.medisec.ie.
Policies with Medisec are non-discretionary and fully insured by Allianz plc and are on a claims made basis. This means the insured GP is covered for claims arising from incidents which occur and are reported when the policy is in force.
On retirement at normal retirement age (sixty-five), having been a member of the Scheme for a continuous minimum period of ten years immediately prior to reaching the age of sixty-five years, members will be entitled to an extended reporting period after the expiration of the policy, i.e. Tail Cover. No additional charge will be levied against retired members for this cover which will be funded by Medisec.