Patients often choose to email practices in the hope of receiving prompt answers to their medical queries. Dr Rachel Birch, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, offers some practical tips to help reduce risk and manage email contact safely.

In late 2022 Medical Protection celebrated 15 years of its flagship Ethics For All conference in South Africa. During this year’s webinar for healthcare professionals, Dr Blesset Nkambule and Dr Zarina Sonday, Medicolegal Consultants at Medical Protection, took delegates through a series of frequently asked questions they come across while assisting Medical Protection members.

As a doctor or healthcare professional, your career deserves the best protection against claims of clinical negligence. There are two main types of professional indemnity and the differences can take time to understand. This article helps explain the difference between occurrence-based and claims-made protection.

Dr Lucy Hanington, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, stresses the importance of having a diverse pool of medical experts to call on.

A medical student considers their early learnings from medical school so far and what they wish they had been told to consider when starting their gruelling studies.

Both legislation and the GMC’s guidance emphasise that doctors should presume that adults have the capacity to consent to or refuse a proposed treatment unless it can be established that they lack that capacity.

Consent is an individualised process based on respect – it is more than a signature on a form, says medicolegal adviser Dr Gordon McDavid

General practice is under increasing strain, causing greater pressure on the whole practice team. Sam McCaffrey explores the greatest causes of stress amongst practice managers, and offers tips on how to increase resilience and avoid burnout.

Dr Caroline Osborne-White, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, explains why it is worth joining the world’s leading medical defence organisation as early as possible in your medical career.

Karen Ellison, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, talks from their own experience as working as a SAS-grade urogynecologist, about the continued undervaluing of specialty doctors and specialist grade doctors in the medical workforce.

Dr Sarah Hull, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, looks at a recent call to our advice line, where a GP was challenged over their support for a patient who said they were unfit to attend court.