The UK government has introduced a new requirement for all healthcare professionals to hold an appropriate indemnity arrangement, commencing 17 July 2014.

You must declare that you have, or will have when practising, appropriate cover under an indemnity arrangement.

As a registered nurse or midwife, you are legally required to have a professional indemnity arrangement in place in order to practise. This could be through your employer, a membership with a professional body (eg RCN) or through a private insurance arrangement.

Most employers provide the appropriate cover for their employees, but it is worth checking with your employer to confirm this.

If you are self-employed you will need to have arranged your own professional indemnity cover. You don’t need to provide evidence to prove you meet this requirement – you just need to confirm you have the appropriate cover when making your application.

The revised Code for nurses and midwives reflects this change. It is now mandatory that they have an appropriate indemnity arrangement in place. Having a professional indemnity arrangement in place is also a revalidation requirement.

If it is discovered that a nurse or midwife is practising without an appropriate indemnity arrangement in place, they will be removed from the register. Removal from the register means that they will no longer be able to practise as a nurse or midwife.

You must have an appropriate indemnity arrangement in place from July 2014, regardless of the date your declaration was signed. If you practise without cover after this time, you will be breaking the law, even though you may only have to sign the declaration when you renew your registration.

You are not required to provide a copy of your documents for your indemnity arrangement when you self-declare, and maintain good records of your indemnity arrangement and the disclosure of your scope of practice. This forms the basis of your arrangement, and is reflected in The Code.

Visit NMC website for more information regarding Indemnity Insurance. 

SOS Life recommends RCN Indemnity Insurance.