The Myth of One-Size-Fits-All: Why GP Indemnity Needs to Reflect Real Practice
In an increasingly complex healthcare landscape, it’s striking how many elements of general practice have evolved except the assumptions underpinning GP indemnity.
At Medical Defense Society, we speak to GPs at all stages of their careers: newly qualified, established partners, clinical directors, portfolio GPs, and locums. What connects them all is a shared challenge ensuring their indemnity keeps pace with the real shape of their working life. And too often, it doesn’t.
A Profession No Longer Defined by One Role
The traditional model of general practice was relatively straightforward: a full-time, surgery-based GP managing a list of registered patients. But that is no longer the reality for many doctors in the UK.
Today’s GPs are clinical educators, public health advisers, NHS England appraisers, charity founders, digital health consultants, and PCN leaders. Many work part-time in clinics and spend the rest of their week contributing to system-level change, research, policy, or innovation. Others balance NHS sessions with private work or voluntary roles overseas. The profession has diversified and rightly so.
Yet the indemnity landscape hasn’t always kept pace.
The Risk of Rigid Cover in a Flexible World
When indemnity is purchased or provided based on a fixed model of care assuming that all work is direct clinical contact in NHS primary care settings it creates blind spots. Some GPs unknowingly leave parts of their portfolio unprotected. Others pay for coverage they don’t need. Worst of all, some assume they are covered for every role they undertake, only to discover during a medico-legal challenge that their protection didn’t stretch that far.
This is not a theoretical risk. We’ve seen cases where non-clinical roles, leadership positions, and even informal teaching arrangements have introduced legal liability or regulatory scrutiny. If a GP’s indemnity doesn’t extend to these areas, they’re left exposed at precisely the moment they expect protection.
And because the traditional indemnity narrative rarely discusses this nuance, the problem goes unnoticed until it’s too late.
Reframing the Question: “What Do I Actually Need Cover For?”
A more useful approach starts with a mindset shift. Instead of asking, “Do I have indemnity?”, the question should be:
“Does my indemnity reflect the full scope of what I do?”
It sounds simple, but in practice, many doctors have never audited their roles against their cover. If you’re part of a multidisciplinary team, teach undergraduates, consult on service design, or act as a CCG adviser, these are not edge cases. They are real, daily parts of your professional contribution and they deserve proper protection.
This lack of clarity is compounded when indemnity is built into employment contracts, provided via state-backed schemes, or bundled through employers. In such cases, GPs can be unclear on whether third-party schemes include vicarious liability, regulatory defence, or support for complaints outside the clinical setting.
In short: just because someone else arranged it, doesn’t mean it covers everything.
What GPs Can Do: Practical Steps to Regain Control
- Review your indemnity annually
Careers evolve. Your protection should too. Schedule an annual check to ensure your indemnity reflects your current roles not just the ones you held when you first signed up. - Be explicit about non-standard work
Activities like teaching, committee participation, policy advising, and digital triage may not be automatically covered. Don’t leave it to assumption ask your provider directly whether these are included. - Avoid “catch-all” assumptions
If your provider claims to cover “everything,” ask them to specify. Insist on written confirmation that your roles especially less traditional ones are within scope. - Check across settings
If you work in both NHS and private practice, across multiple locations, or through different agencies, confirm that your indemnity bridges each setting without exclusions or duplication.
These steps are not just about risk mitigation. They’re about ensuring peace of mind, enabling doctors to contribute confidently and creatively to the profession without second-guessing their protection.
The System Must Catch Up
The move towards flexible, portfolio careers should be seen as a strength of modern general practice. It brings fresh perspectives, cross-sector innovation, and greater sustainability. But until indemnity providers adapt to that flexibility, doctors remain stuck navigating an outdated model that assumes uniformity where diversity now thrives.
We must move away from the notion that indemnity is a fixed product for a fixed type of doctor. Instead, it should be a responsive service, a service one adapts to changing roles, listens to what doctors actually do, and evolves alongside them.
This is not just about legal protection. It’s about supporting the kind of career GPs increasingly want and need to build.
Protection That Fits
At the Medical Defence Society, we believe your indemnity should fit the career you’ve created not the one the system assumes you have.
We’re not locked into legacy systems, flat-pack policies, or outdated risk models. We’re built for today’s GP: flexible, multi-faceted, and evolving. That’s why we offer tailored indemnity support that adapts with your role and not against it.
Whether you’re teaching, leading, consulting, or simply working outside the traditional box we’re here to ensure your protection is as dynamic as your practice. No jargon. No assumptions. Just honest, doctor first support.
So, if your career has moved on but your indemnity hasn’t, get in touch. Let’s build cover that reflects your reality, not restricts it.
Not a Medical Defense Society member, not a problem. Contact us and we can help you work out the right questions to ask your current indemnity provider.
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