Page 18 - Pharmacy Appeals 1/4/04 to 31/3/05

NHS Indemnity a doctor in another to provide an informal second opinion, unless there is an agreement
between the trusts as to which of them will accept liability for the “visiting” doctor in
such circumstances.

26. Me private sector rotations for hospital staff covered?
The medical staff of independent hospitals are responsible for their own professional
liability cover, subject to the requirements of the hospital managers. If n h s staff in the
training grades work in independent hospitals as part of their NHS training, they would
be covered by NHS Indemnity, provided that such work was covered by an NHS contract
of employment.

27. Are voluntary workers covered?
Where volunteers work in NHS bodies, they are covered by NHS Indemnity. NHS
managers should be aware of all voluntary activity going on in their organizations and
should wherever possible confirm volunteers’ indemnity position in writing.

28. Are students covered?
NHS Indemnity applies where students are working under the supervision of NHS
employees. This should be made clear in the agreement between the NHS body and the
student’s educational body. This will apply to students of all the health care professions
and to school students on, for example, work experience placements. Students working in
NHS premises, under supervision of medical academic staff employed by universities
holding honorary contracts, are also covered. Students who spend time in a primary care
setting will only be covered if this is part of an NHS contract. Potential students making
preliminary visits and school placements should be adequately supervised and should not
become involved in any clinical work. Therefore, no clinical negligence should arise on
their part.

In the unlikely event of a school making a negligent choice of work placement for a pupil
to work in the NHS, then the school, and not NHS indemnity, should pick up the legal
responsibility for the actions of that pupil. The contractual arrangement between the NHS
and the school should make this clear.

29. Are health care professionals undergoing on-the-job training covered?
Where an NHS body’s staff are providing on-the-job training (eg refresher or skills
updating courses) for health care professionals, the trainees are covered by NHS
Indemnity whether they are normally employed by the NHS or not.

30. Are Independent midwives covered?
Independent midwives are self-employed practitioners. In common with all other health
care professionals working outside the NHS, they are responsible for making their own
indemnity arrangements.

31. Are overseas doctors who have come to the UK temporarily, perhaps to
demonstrate a new technique, covered?
The NHS body which has invited the overseas doctor will owe a duty of care to the
patients on whom the technique is demonstrated and so NHS indemnity will apply. NHS
bodies, therefore, need to make sure that they are kept informed of any such
demonstration visits which are proposed and of the nature of the technique to be
demonstrated. Where visiting clinicians are not formally registered as students, or are