When you run any type of surgery, whether it is a doctor’s surgery, dental surgery, or veterinary, there are certain types of insurance that you must have in place and others that are not a legal requirement but that you should certainly consider.
To begin with, if you employ people, which you almost certainly do unless you are a sole practitioner, then you will need employer’s liability insurance. This will cover you if any of your employees should be injured during the course of undertaking any activity that they are required to do as an employee.
Of course, as a business that is dealing with the public, you will need to carry public liability insurance, and the standard level for this is £5 million. However, more and more local authorities and CCGs are now requiring a minimum of £10 million, so you need to check what is required for your specific situation.
If you rent your surgery then your landlord will insure the building, but if you are buying it with a mortgage, then your mortgage lender will no doubt require you to have a certain level of cover. If you suffer from a complete loss, you need to have enough insurance to cover a total rebuild and reinstatement.
When it comes to content insurance, there are a lot of things to take into consideration in a GP surgery or dental or veterinary surgery. This is something that also needs to be reviewed from time to time because prices go up. If you took out contents’ insurance five years ago, you need to update it because the cover that you paid for at the time may now not be sufficient to replace the contents simply because of inflation. The items that you need to cover are goods, personal property, and other items that are within the surgery such as the carpets or window blinds, and this can all add up to quite a lot of money.
In surgery, there are items such as vaccines and drugs, and they may be ones that you use regularly or could be seasonal ones such as flu vaccines. You may also be holding a considerable stock of Covid-19 vaccines at present. Even if you don’t suffer a total loss, you may hold stocks of drugs that have a shelf life and will deteriorate. You should cover things such as precious metals, personal possessions of employees and patients as well as your own, and the ever-present possibility of assault by patients.
A dental practice would also want to cover dental chairs and precious metals, a hair transplant surgeon may use a robot for FUE transplantation which is a very expensive piece of equipment, dental laboratories need to cover lab equipment, and a vet may need cover for animals in custody and the possibility of animal attacks on staff or clients, or even other animals.
You should also consider business interruption insurance. If you suffer a flood or fire, and your practice is out of action, this will cover you for loss of earnings during that period and perhaps something such as transferring to new premises on a temporary basis while your surgery is being restored.
In addition, you need to take out insurance against legal action to cover costs and any awards which may be made against you. You can be talking big money here, and it is becoming more and more common that staff can take an employer to court for improper dismissal, discrimination, and the like.
You also need GP locum insurance because doctors and nurses are just as likely to go sick and need time off as anyone else. Sure, you may be able to manage without a practice nurse for a week or two, but even that can be inconvenient. The top five causes of staff absence are:
- Minor illness
- Stress
- Musculoskeletal injuries
- Home/family/carer responsibilities
- Mental ill-health (for example clinical depression and anxiety)
Things such as stress and mental ill-health can result in staff being away for long periods, and the costs of hiring a locum to cover the gap can be considerable. At Approachable Locum Insurance, we can provide you with the appropriate cover that you need for any type of medical practice.
