Medical Protection Society
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The Medical Protection Society (MPS) is the world’s leading protection organisation[citation needed] for medical, dental (through its subsidiary company Dental Protection Ltd.) and healthcare professionals. It protects and supports the professional interests of more than 300,000 members around the world (including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand plus the Caribbean and Bermuda). Members of MPS can benefit from access to indemnity, expert advice and peace of mind.[citation needed] Advisers are on hand to talk through a question or concern.
MPS's in-house experts assist with the wide range of legal and ethical problems that arise from professional practice. This includes clinical negligence claims, complaints, medical and dental council inquiries, legal and ethical dilemmas, disciplinary procedures, inquests and fatal accident inquiries.
MPS is one of three major medical defence organisations (MDOs) in the country. The main competitor of MPS is the Medical Defence Union (MDU). Other competitors include Premium Medical Protection (PMP) and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS).
MPS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MPS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
MPS was founded in 1892, with just 13 original members all practising in the home counties of England, and now (2015) has over 290,000 members worldwide.
Indemnity
MPS aims to help doctors with ethical and legal problems that arise from their clinical practice. Members of MPS look to the organisation for medicolegal advice and indemnification for the legal costs in defence of their professional reputations. MPS also pays out damages for clinical negligence. However, it is not an insurance company; MPS offers funds and other services to its membership body at the discretion of a council of representative members.[1]
The Council’s obligations and powers are set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.[2] A copy of this is sent to members when they join MPS.
Functions
Some of the services[3]provided by MPS include:
- Medicolegal advice from its team of medicolegal advisers
- Legal representation in a range of circumstances, such as clinical negligence claims and disciplinary hearings
- Support with handling press intrusion if a member is involved in a case which attracts media attention
- Counselling service for any members who are suffering from stress as a result of an adverse incident or medicolegal matter
- Risk management workshops, lectures and publications on a variety of subjects, from consent to medical records, to help avoid the risk of complaints
- Lobbying[4] to bring about a sensible regulatory environment to provide a safer environment for patients and healthcare professionals.
Footnotes
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