Appendix 2
Insurance and Indemnity
Consultation on The General Dental Council (Indemnity Arrangements)
(Dentists and Dental Care Professionals) Rules Order of Council
About this consultation
We are consulting on the The General Dental Council (Indemnity Arrangements) (Dentists
and Dental Care Professionals) Rules Order of Council which will give the Registrar the
power to ask registrants to provide information about their indemnity arrangements in certain
circumstances and set time limits within which the information must be provided.
Indemnity for dentists and dental care professionals
The requirement for GDC registrants to have indemnity has been in place for many years. At
the moment, it is set out in our Standards as something that we expect of our registrants
(Standard 1.8.1 says ‘You must have appropriate insurance or indemnity in place to make
sure your patients can claim any compensation to which they may be entitled’).
Following an independent review across the regulated healthcare professions which
recommended making insurance or indemnity a statutory requirement for access to those
professions, The Health Care and Associated Professions (Indemnity Arrangements) Order
was passed in 2014. The Order changes the requirement for registrants to have indemnity
from an ethical requirement to a legal one. The registration, restoration and renewal
processes will be changed to include a declaration that a registrant has, or will have in place
at the point at which they practise in the UK, insurance or indemnity appropriate to the areas
of their practice. The wording of this declaration has been agreed across all the healthcare
regulators.
The Order also gives the Council the power to make Rules about the information that
dentists and dental care professionals applying for registration or restoration, or seeking to
renew their registration, will need to provide about their indemnity arrangements. It is these
Rules that we are now consulting on.
Throughout this consultation document we have used the word ‘indemnity’ for simplicity. It
should be taken to have the meaning set out in sections 26A and 36L of the Dentists Act
1984(a), namely:
“an indemnity arrangement may comprise –
(a)
(b)
(c)
a policy of insurance;
an arrangement made for the purposes of indemnifying a person;
a combination of the two.”
This document should be read in conjunction with the accompanying draft Rules made under
sections 26A(4), (5) and (6), and 36L(4), (5) and (6) of the Dentists Act 1984(a).
Responses can be made online at www.gdc-uk.org/insertvalue or by post to:
Indemnity Consultation
Standards Team
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
LONDON
W1G 8DQ
The deadline for responses is Friday 9 January 2015.
Consultation
Please consider the questions below in conjunction with the draft new statutory Rules which
accompany this document.
Additional information required on registration - Rule 2
Rule 2 sets out the circumstances under which we would be able to ask someone applying
for registration for further information about their proposed indemnity arrangements. It also
sets out some ways in which that information could be provided and sets a time limit for
doing so.
Question 1:
Do you agree with the circumstances in which we could seek further information about
proposed indemnity arrangements?
Yes
No
If no, please explain why:
Question 2:
Do you agree with the suggestions for what further information could be provided?
Yes
No
If no, please explain why:
Question 3:
Do you agree with the suggested time limit of 14 days?
Yes
No
If no, please explain why:
Rules 3 and 4 – Information required on restoration
Rule 3 sets out the information that must be provided by someone applying to have their
name restored to the register. Rule 4 sets out the circumstances under which we would be
able to ask someone applying for restoration for further information about their proposed
indemnity arrangements. It also sets out some ways in which that information could be
provided (which are the same as in Rule 2) and sets a time limit for doing so.
Repeat questions 1-3
Rule 5 – information required on renewal
Dentists and dental care professionals renew their registration annually. This rule would
require those renewing their registration to confirm that they continue to have indemnity.
Do you agree that a declaration made as part of the renewal process is sufficient?
Options: Yes, No and if no, please explain why
Rule 6 – Cessation of cover
This rule requires registrants to let us know if their indemnity cover stops.
Rule 7 – Confirmation of compliance
This rule allows the registrar to require registrants to provide evidence of their cover at any
time.
Question – Do you have any further comments about the proposed requirements?