Professional Indemnity Insurance for Non-NHS

When you undertake clinical placements outside the NHS—for example, in nursing homes, residential care facilities or private hospitals—the organisation providing the placement is vicariously liable for your actions. In practice, this means your host employer should already have an appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangement in place to cover your work.

Employer’s Indemnity Insurance Coverage

Your organisation is generally legally responsible for your actions—this is known as vicarious liability. Consequently, they must hold insurance that covers any negligent harm caused to patients or healthy volunteers in the following circumstances:

• When patients receive an established treatment, whether or not it follows an agreed guideline or protocol.
• When patients receive a novel or unusual treatment deemed appropriate by the healthcare professional.
• When individuals participate as subjects in clinical research aimed at benefiting current or future patients.

If your host employer’s cover does not meet these standards, consider securing your own Non-NHS Professional Indemnity Insurance to bridge any gaps in protection.

Duty of Care Across All Healthcare Organisations

All bodies involved in healthcare—both inside and outside the NHS—share a legal duty of care and are vicariously liable for the actions of their direct and indirect employees. This obligation extends to voluntary organisations, which must ensure adequate insurance for their volunteer workforce.

For comprehensive guidance on securing the right level of cover, explore our detailed resource on Non-NHS Professional Indemnity Insurance.