The government is introducing a new criminal offence for healthcare workers who wilfully neglect or ill-treat patients. The new offence may seem uncontentious but, in practice, it could have significant unintended consequences that could negatively impact on the professional lives of all healthcare workers, including doctors.

The Medical Innovation Bill, promoted by Lord Saatchi, proposes legal protection for doctors who try novel treatments for patients for whom standard treatments are no longer effective. The Bill is currently undergoing further scrutiny in the House of Lords.

Public exposure from complaints and claims can cause doctors to face a trial by media. In 2011, a UK GP was accused of sexually motivated conduct when he examined a patient’s chest – he shares his experience with Sara Dawson

MPS medicolegal adviser Dr Pallavi Bradshaw flags changes to approved practice settings for F2s

General practice is an increasingly challenging and high-risk environment in which to practise medicine. Chief Executive Simon Kayll, explains how we assess those risks and calculate GP membership subscriptions

We can provide you with expert advice on a wide range of topic areas, doctor to doctor, over the phone, via email or through our extensive online resources.

We understand that your primary focus during your training is to pass all elements of the MRCGP assessments, therefore we can provide you with additional benefits to help improve your performance in consultation and support your preparation for your exams.

MPS is the world’s leading protection organisation for doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals.

The CQC is the regulator for health and social care in England. It monitors, inspects and regulates general practices to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety.

You can get direct assistance from Medical Protection by requesting a Clinical Risk Self Assessment (CRSA), which is a systematic approach that identifies risk and develops practical solutions, as one of the benefits of membership. Our experience has been that a CRSA is invaluable in assisting practices in preparing for their CQC inspection and also post-CQC inspection, to assist with issues raised by the CQC inspector.

The CQC wants to define what good quality care looks like in order to be able to effectively inspect and rate practices.

An information portal can simplify the storing, sharing and management of local information held by your practice and is an important device for reducing risk. We’ve teamed up with the National Association of Sessional GPs (NASGP) to help you find a simple and effective solution.

Endurance athlete and GP Dr Andrew Murray reflects on working in Mongolia and why he decided to run from Scotland to the Sahara

In this issue we share a case where a locum GP raised concerns about patient safety in a practice he had worked at for three months

Prescribing can be a risky business, especially when prescribing for different kinds of patients such as older people or children who can be particularly vulnerable. Charlotte Hudson talks about the risks and what you can do to make sure you avoid them.

Dr Euan Lawson, a locum GP from Cumbria, explains why every GP, including locums, should have an open door when not consulting.

Kirsty Plowman considers how complaints can affect you and offers tips for tackling any you may receive

Medicolegal Adviser Dr Marika Davies explains how to maintain professionalism when dealing with trivial requests from patients