MDDUS has enjoyed more than a decade of continual growth with a 9.4 per cent increase in total membership in 2014. As of the end of September this year, MDDUS had approximately 35,000 members.
Dental membership in Scotland remained stable in 2014 but we saw substantial growth south of the border with numbers increasing by 10 per cent.
Head of dental division at MDDUS, Aubrey Craig, believes the sustained growth is built on a firm commitment to quality. He said: “MDDUS continues to offer personalised, rapid and flexible service in dento-legal advisory work, support for members in legal proceedings and day to day handling of subscriptions and queries.
“Increasing numbers of dentists are putting their trust in our professionalism, responsiveness and value in an increasingly tough environment where claims and GDC referrals continue to rise.”
MDDUS dental advisory team saw an increase of 13 per cent in telephone calls for advice in 2014, while email contacts also increased by 12 per cent. In addition to dento-legal advice, MDDUS offers an expert employment law service, with the number of calls received increasing by 13 per cent in 2014.
MDDUS chief executive Chris Kenny added: “MDDUS encourages members to make use of the advice line that is available to them as a benefit of membership. Our door is always open. Seeking our advice and using our online risk management services will assist the member in adopting safer clinical practice.”
Chris believes the growth is evidence of practitioners’ confidence in the indemnity model as the best way to protect patients and the profession.
He commented: “Our occurrence based indemnity has no time limit or cost cap on liability. This means that we help members for any claim that arises, even if they have moved abroad, ceased clinical work, retired or are deceased when the claim or complaint arises.
“Insurance products rarely do that. They usually only guarantee protection to doctors insured both when the incident occurred and when the claim is made. The crucial importance of this lies in the fact that claims can be made several months or even years after the events that give rise to the claim.”
Meanwhile, figures from the MDDUS annual report reveal a 19 per cent rise in claims against GDPs and hospital dentists in 2014 compared to the previous year.
MDDUS has also seen a significant increase in the number of members subject to investigation by the GDC, up 37 per cent on the previous year which mirrors the GDC’s own statistics for 2014.
Aubrey added: “The threat of regulatory action can destroy careers and reputations but we have the experience and expertise to assist our members and we continue to engage robustly with the GDC on behalf of our members.”