When Insurance Fails: A Real-World GMC Case and the Risks of Working Outside Your Competence

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity directors Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston discuss a real case showing how quickly things unravel when medical insurance and scope of practice are misaligned.

This case involved an individuals who was asked to administer a treatment remotely supervised via video by another doctor, despite stating she was not competent.

Something went wrong and the patient complained to the clinic, resulting in the clinic reporting the incidence to the CQC, who then referred the doctor to the GMC via a third-party complaint.

The insurers repudiated cover for both negligence and GMC disciplinary costs because the procedure was outside her declared sphere, leaving the individual to face potentially being struck off and personally covering legal costs and a potential negligence claim.

In the episode, Christopher and Roger discuss how this could have been avoided and what medical practitioners need to do to ensure they are covered.

Episode timestamps:

• 00:45 Overview of the case
• 01:54 The treatment
• 03:12 The patient complaint
• 05:55 Insurance repudiation
• 08:36 Lack of phone support
• 10:51 Clinic liability questions
• 12:48 CQC reporting explained
• 15:10 How this could have been avoided
• 17:08 Other insurance piitfalls
• 23:45 Being proactive around insurance

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions. Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive.

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk

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