10 • Indemnity


There are many misconceptions about how indemnity works. MDDUS dental adviser Claire Renton sets the record straight


BUSTING INDEMNITY MYTHS


W


ITH the spookiness of Halloween behind us, we are rapidly on our way to Christmas – my favourite time of year. Even those who don’t observe it as a religious holiday will usually enjoy time off work with family, lots of good food, presents and maybe a silly pantomime for good measure.


This got me thinking that much of what we enjoy about this time of


year stems not from evidence-based scientific fact but from myths and legends. Well-behaved boys and girls will be rewarded with gifts from Santa; a kiss is promised for those who pass under the mistletoe; and so long as Cinderella doesn’t break her curfew then all will be well. And of course everyone knows calories don’t count at Christmas... Fantasy is often more appealing than fact but the same should not apply to dental indemnity.


No penalty for advice calls When it comes to professional indemnity, there seem to be a few fairy tales currently doing the rounds. The first is the ludicrous suggestion that if you call MDDUS for advice then this will lead to higher subscription costs. Some dentists believe that if you call your indemnity provider for any kind of assistance then you will be penalised and your subscriptions will rise based on the number of times you call. Well, sorry to disappoint but at MDDUS this is simply not true. We


positively encourage members to call early for advice as we believe this will help them practise more safely and will help to resolve any issues


before they escalate. Let’s take a closer look at how indemnity organisations work. In the simplest of terms, doctors and dentists club together to form a mutual organisation where shared funds are used to compensate patients who have suffered harm as a result of clinical treatment from our members. The mutual fund is also used to advise and support clinicians who are subject to scrutiny from their regulator or patient complaints/claims. At MDDUS we have no shareholders to pay (unlike most insurance providers) and all subscriptions are invested back into the mutual fund to help our members. So, if you were running this fund which would you rather do? Suggest


that members in need of advice call early, and as many times as they like, to prevent problems from escalating, or penalise them for seeking help and leave them to make a potentially costly error? Yup, me too, it’s not rocket science. We’d be mad to increase a member’s fees because of the number of times they call us. And we don’t. We never have. We want members to call at the first hint of anything going wrong. MDDUS has a team of experienced dental advisers on duty from 8am to 6pm during the week plus a 24/7 out-of-hours advice line for emergencies.


Discretion is good Another common myth scaring dentists just now, and it seems to be particularly aimed at newly qualified colleagues, focuses on the fact that MDDUS indemnity is “discretionary”. The story going round is that our ability to operate discretion means that if we get out of bed on the wrong side and we don’t want to, then we don’t have to provide you with


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