Medical indemnity insurance is a mandatory insurance policy required for all doctors in New Zealand in order to practise.

  There are a lot of misunderstandings about the Medical Council and their role—especially for doctors-in-training. This quick reference sheet will clear up any lingering confusion.

  Burnout might seem like part of the package for doctors’ work-life balance in New Zealand. However, it’s dangerous not to learn how to deal with and prevent doctor burnout.

Even the best doctors in the world are only human, and humans make mistakes. Fatigue, sickness, even just a distraction can all spell serious malpractice for any doctor, experienced or not, so it pays to get to know the common causes of medical errors.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a profession that has longer hours than healthcare—and extended shifts could be dangerously affecting the ability of doctors.

It might seem like cases of medical negligence and medical malpractice are easy targets for viewer-hungry media networks. They’ve got it all: courtroom drama, big payouts, angry defendants — but the reality is quite different for the actual doctors involved. Even if they aren’t to blame, it can end up costing them a lot, and in more ways than one.

  Don’t just tick the first box you see. Get the right medical indemnity cover that has the following inclusions:

  Where do you see yourself five years from now? Working in a hospital? A private medical centre? Maybe even opening your own practice. But no matter what you’re planning to do, we bet that it doesn’t include having to deal with a malpractice complaint from your time as a resident doctor.

  Everybody makes mistakes; even the most highly trained doctors. But by recognising the most common types of medical malpractice complaints, young doctors can learn how to provide better care for their patients and avoid the ire of the HDC or Medical Council at the same time.

Dr H was faced with a problem. He was working with a patient, M, over the course of several months, and seemed to be making good progress. One day, he was contacted by a government agency. It requested sensitive material about M’s health—so sensitive, in fact, that Dr H felt that to comply would breach patient confidentiality.