Swine Flu and GP Insurance

NHS union leaders have warned that GP's may choose not to work if the Swine Flu pandemic gets more widespread. The problem centres around the possibility that they may get sued by patients and not be covered under their insurances.

One of the problems is GP's insurance 'death in service' clause which states that they are covered only if they die whilst working. If they die out of hours they are not covered and their families will not receive an insurance payout.

The BBC reported that Dr Dean Marshall, one of the BMA's flu planning team members, said 'Doctors will be putting their lives on the line and it is only right they can feel assured they are properly covered if anything goes wrong.

We don't want to be going into it with GPs feeling unsure where they stand. Doctors are only human and some will not want to go on the front line.'

Andrew Clapperton, from NHS Employers said, 'We are currently in discussion with both the BMA and the Department of Health to establish how we might best achieve this solution.'

Another issue is that GP's are treated as self-employed individuals. As such they have their own public indemnity insurance. This type of insurance stipulates the kind of behaviour and treatment that GP's must engage in and concerns have arisen that during a widespread swine flu epidemic they may not be able to fulfil the criteria and therefore be personally liable if anyone makes a claim against them. For example if someone needs hospitalisation but the hospitals are full to capacity then a GP can still be sued for not sending their patient there.

According to Dr Laurence Buckman, chair of the BMA's GPs Committee GP's are not considering withdrawing their labour. He said that,

'Media reports claiming this to be the case are wholly inaccurate. Indeed the evidence so far is that GPs in areas where there have been outbreaks have pulled out all the stops for their patients and I have complete faith that this will continue to be the case.

A flu pandemic will put huge strain on the NHS and doctors will be working in exceptional circumstances, which is why the BMA has been working closely with the UK governments to plan for and ensure the smooth running of the service during a pandemic. The issue of death in service for locums is one of the few areas still to be ironed out, it affects a minority of GPs and we are working to resolve it quickly.'

Urgent solutions are required if the swine flu pandemic is set to spread, as has been predicted, in the winter months. The UK cannot do without its frontline staff.