Professional indemnity arrangements become a legal requirement
17 July 2014
The UK government has today introduced a new requirement for all healthcare professionals to hold appropriate cover under an indemnity arrangement.
By law, nurses and midwives must have in place an appropriate indemnity arrangement in order to practise and provide care. While the arrangement does not necessarily need to be individually held by the nurse or midwife, it is their responsibility to ensure that appropriate cover is in force.
When nurses or midwives join the register, or renew their registration, they will declare to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) that they hold appropriate cover under an indemnity arrangement or will hold such cover whenever they practice.
The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2008) has been updated to reflect this change and that having an appropriate indemnity arrangement in place is now mandatory.
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Notes for editors
1. We are the nursing and midwifery regulator for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands. We exist to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public. We set standards of education, training, conduct and performance for nurses and midwives, and hold the register of those who have qualified and meet those standards. We provide guidance to help nurses and midwives keep their skills and knowledge up to date and uphold our professional standards. We have clear and transparent processes to investigate and deal with nurses and midwives who fall short of our standards.
2. The Health Care and Associated Professions (Indemnity Arrangements) Order became law on 17 July 2014.
3. For media enquiries, please contact Ann Brown at media@nmc-uk.org or on 020 7681 5949.
