Students can apply online for free MPS membership. All other medical professionals can get a quote and apply for membership from the Join Medical Protection section of the website (see the "Join Today" button at the top of the page), then select your individual membership category.

Please ensure you read the important information at the bottom of the page before starting your quote. More information for applicants can be found here.

Extended liability

Membership grants the right to request indemnity in relation to your own clinical practice. However, as an owner or partner in a practice you may be responsible for liability arising from other elements of the business, for example:

• vicarious liability for the acts and omissions of other healthcare professionals or staff at your practice;
• liability for products that are sold at your practice;
• liability in relation to the safety of the practice environment; and
• liability for non-clinical matters such as taxes and the performance of contracts entered into by or on behalf of your practice.

In addition, for practices structured as unlimited liability partnerships, partners are jointly and severally liable for actions brought against the partnership, so you may be liable for the actions or omissions of a fellow partner.

It is important to understand that the subscription for an individual Medical Protection member is calculated on the basis of the risk represented by that member alone. In the interests of fairness across the membership as a whole, where you are exposed to additional liabilities (such as those listed above), you do not have the right request indemnity for matters beyond your own clinical practice, unless your membership grade is expressly extended to cover these. There are various additional packages that Medical Protection offers, to help you manage some of the wider risk that you might face in the course of your practice:

UK GP Membership

Given the typical structure of general medical practices in the UK, we offer additional benefits in the GP membership category, including for solo practitioners and those practising in an unlimited partnership. It is likely that, in addition to the standard benefits of membership, UK GPs would be granted assistance with requests relating to claims of negligence against any of their employed non-clinical administrative staff (e.g. the practice manager, receptionists and secretaries), or in relation to clinical staff such as health care assistants, phlebotomists, and dispensers where it can be shown that such staff were acting under appropriately delegated authority and were adequately trained, supervised, working to practice protocols and not making ‘standalone’ clinical judgments. 

Find out more about GP membership

Practice Xtra membership

GP practices (structured as unlimited liability partnerships) can enrol in the Practice Xtra programme, which provides discounted membership for other clinical staff, grants membership to certain employed staff in their own right, and gives a practice access to advice on employment law and health and safety, as well as to other risk management services. 

Find out more about Practice Xtra

Corporate membership

Limited companies can apply to MPS for membership in their own right. Corporate membership can be tailored to the needs and risks of your business and (for example) can provide the company, and the officers of the company, with access to assistance and indemnity in respect of the defence and/or settlement of clinical negligence claims made against the company. Corporate members may also apply for assistance in dealing with complaints and managing adverse incidents arising from an employee’s clinical work, and liability-capped and claims-made options are also available. 

Find out more about corporate and group membership

Find out more about the limitations of MPS membership

In England, the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST), administered by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), provides an indemnity to NHS employees in respect of clinical negligence claims arising from events occurring in the context of NHS employment in England. It meets any damages and claimants’ costs which are found due, and legal defence costs. It may provide assistance at inquests/FAIs in some circumstances. Similar schemes operate in Scotland (CNORIS), Wales (WRP), and the Northern Ireland Office runs a risk pooling scheme.

Find out more about NHS indemnity by clicking here.

The UK and Welsh governments also introduced state-backed indemnity schemes for GPs and others working in general practice in England and Wales.

Both the England and Wales state-backed indemnity schemes provide indemnity against clinical negligence claims arising from NHS contracted work – in a similar arrangement to the NHS indemnity scheme for NHS hospital doctors. The schemes do not include indemnity for non-contracted NHS work, or provide support for complaints, GMC inquiries, inquests and disciplinary proceedings.

Find out what state-backed indemnity means for general practitioners here, or visit our GP indemnity hub.

No, not at present. The main benefits of engaging with our educational programs are:

• Enhanced risk management and prevention skills
• Improved patient outcomes
• Reduced likelihood of involvement with claims or complaints and the associated stress, worry and inconvenience they bring.

Members who retire, take a career break or who otherwise stop practising medicine voluntarily - either temporarily or permanently (excluding holidays), can request to retain their Medical Protection membership in the retired/deferred category.

As a retired or deferred member with occurrence-based protection, you pay no subscription and can still apply for assistance with any medicolegal problems arising from a “Good Samaritan act”.

However, if you decide to leave Medical Protection membership, then you will not be entitled to any assistance in relation to a Good Samaritan act if the incident occurs after your membership has ended. You must also inform us before you resume practice, so that we can ensure you are placed in the correct category of membership.

Members with claims-made protection should contact us to find out how a break will affect their membership.

Good neighbour acts generally refer to the professional provision of medical care on a community basis – such as helping out at local sporting or similar planned events.

We do not provide the right to request indemnity for this type of care, unless it is something that we have previously been made aware of, and have therefore included in your membership subscription.

Regardless of whether the medical care you provide is on a paid for or voluntary basis, you are still at risk of a claim or complaint being made against you, and as such, you need to ensure that you have arrangements in place to protect against the possibility of this.

In the first instance, check with the club or organisers of the event to determine if they are providing a medical indemnity or insurance arrangement for you. If they are not, then please call our membership team on 0800 561 9000 to discuss your requirements with us.

Please note that ‘good neighbour acts’ are different to ‘Samaritan Acts’. For more information on Good Samaritan Acts, see our other FAQs.

Yes. In the unlikely event that you are sued as a result of a Good Samaritan act, you can apply for assistance from Medical Protection, no matter where in the world the action is brought.

Those who are on obstetrics/gynaecology, paediatric and GPs on their current grade can request indemnity for undertaking the Harmony prenatal test provided members ensure:

• patients are adequately counselled and consented
• patients are appropriately followed up
• full records are maintained (including records of the counselling and consent, as well as follow up arrangements).

GPs who have full Medical Protection membership can request indemnity for tongue-tie division if:

• they have appropriate training and experience
• patients/parents are properly informed of the procedure, this includes the risks as well as potential complications, and consent has been obtained before proceeding
• it is performed in an appropriate setting. Procedures not carried out in clinical premises must be undertaken in a safe environment with adequate and appropriate facilities.

No. Give us a call on 0800 561 9000 and we will send you a replacement. Calls to Membership Services may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.

Alternatively you can download a PDF version from the "Manage my membership" section of the MPS website.

We actively encourage members to contact us for advice to provide peace of mind and to help prevent a concern or problem escalating.

Medical Protection does not use the number of requests for advice as part of its risk assessment of a member. This includes determining their membership subscription.

In exceptional cases, where a request for advice involves facts or circumstances of a highly unusual or unique nature it might trigger a general review of an individual’s risk profile. However, we stress that this would be very unusual.

So, if you want to discuss a medico-legal issue or need advice on how to prevent a concern or problem escalating, please do let us know - we are only a phone call away.

Where you are eligible for Medical Protection’s occurrence-based protection you can seek assistance for any complaint or claim arising from an adverse incident that took place during membership of Medical Protection – even if it is brought years later, or if you have long since left membership. Occurrence-based protection means you do not need to make any further arrangements for long-term protection after your membership ends.