Indemnity for Federation/FSU work

The MDU's NI Pharmacy Scheme offers free indemnity for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians employed by the Northern Ireland GP Federations and Support Units.

By joining the scheme, you'll become an individual member of the MDU and have access to all the benefits of membership you would have if you joined outside of the scheme - except that your indemnity is only valid for your Federation/FSU work.

Cost and indemnity

Joining the scheme is free for you, as your Federation/FSU employer will cover the costs of your indemnity while you work for them. If you work for any other non Federation/FSU employers, you can request to add this to your membership at your own cost.

Both your previous PDA membership and new MDU membership are provided on a claims-made basis. You can find out more about claims made vs occurrence here.

The MDU's scheme provides retrospective indemnity for any previous period when you worked for the Federation/FSU and your indemnity was provided by your PDA membership. This means you don't need extended reporting rights/run-off from the PDA for your Federation/FSU work.

If you previously had indemnity with the PDA during your current employment, our scheme will pick up the historical liability for the time you were employed.

Before you apply, please download this PDF to identify which tier your role will fall into.

Applying for the scheme

You're unlikely to receive a refund from your existing defence organisation if you cancel your membership with them mid-year.

Because of this, we recommend joining our scheme by applying for MDU membership six weeks before your current indemnity is due to expire.

Apply now, or use the form below to request more information. 

Apply now Request more information

What are the benefits?

  • Robust defence of your professional reputation if you face a fitness to practise investigation or disciplinary hearing.
  • Professional indemnity that meets regulatory requirements, pays your legal costs and compensates patients if you face a claim.
  • If a patient complains about the care you’ve been involved in providing, get our advice on how to respond effectively.

  • 24-hour confidential medico-legal helpline for support with difficult ethical issues such as patient consent, capacity and confidentiality.

  • Indemnity for Good Samaritan acts worldwide.
  • Discounts on our CPD verifiable courses and free access to online learning.
  • Stay up to date with case studies, ethical dilemmas and the MDU journal.

Frequently asked questions

How do I join?

Complete the application form here. You should aim to complete the form six to twelve weeks before your renewal date with your current indemnity provider.

We recommend you don't cancel any existing indemnity arrangements until you receive written confirmation that your application has been successful.

Can I cancel my current indemnity membership and join the MDU scheme without putting any other arrangements in place?

If you're bringing all your work to the MDU, you won't need to put any other arrangements in place, as your MDU membership will pick up the claims made tail for your federation/FSU work.

If you have other work outside of the federation that you still do now, you can request indemnity for that work at your own expense and ask to indemnify the historic liability for that work too. You can't ask to put retrospective indemnity in place for work you used to do and had indemnified with your current provider.

What if I have work outside of the Federation/FSU?

Indemnity will be provided for Federation work only, so staff should review their personal indemnity requirements for any work undertaken outside of Federation employment (employed or self-employed).

You can remain with your current provider to indemnify your outside work, or you can ask the MDU to quote for that work too, but you should request a retrospective period dating back to when you first added that work with your current provider.

If you decide to leave the MDU, you can ask your next provider to indemnify your historical claims made period retrospectively, in the same way as the MDU scheme will do when you join them. If you are leaving the MDU and not joining another provider, you can request a quote for an extended reporting period (ERP), which will allow you to report incidents that you only become aware of after your active membership has ended.

Does the MDU include run-off for any private GP practice work done under the self-employed extension, indemnified while the GPP was employed within the Federation?

The MDU scheme only indemnifies work you do as part of your contract with the GP Federation/FSU.

Does the MDU include run-off for any locum community pharmacy work done while the GPP was employed within the Federation?

Not unless the GPP has become an MDU member for that continuing locum pharmacy work (at their own expense) as well as joining the federation scheme.

I have more questions, how can I find out more?

Our pre-application information and FAQs document has full details and covers the most common questions.

If your question's still not answered, use our contact form to request more information and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Request more information

Enter your details below and we'll contact you to discuss your enquiry.

*
*
*
*
*
*
Role:
*
Preferred method of contact:
*

Why you should choose the MDU

Guide

Guide

Unparalleled track-record of helping members overcome the challenges which threaten their livelihood.

Defend

Support

99% of calls to the MDU medico-legal helpline are connected straight to a medico-legal adviser during normal working hours.

Defend

Defend

In 2021 we successfully defended over 85% of claims, making no compensation payments to patients.