Scheme Outline
An accident or illness could strike at any time and stop you from working - make sure you are adequately protected - join the hundreds of GPs who are already covered by the plan TODAY!
Could you afford to lose over £8,000 a month?
Almost certainly not - yet this is precisely what could happen if you had to employ a locum while you were off work for a month or more because of illness or accident.
If you are in partnership you will probably find that your partners will provide cover for the first few weeks; otherwise you may have an agreement with a neighbouring practice — either way such arrangements usually only last for a month or so.
After this initial period a locum would need to be engaged... which can easily cost £2,000 a week or more! So a GP off work for 3 months could be faced with locum bills of over £24,000. The potential bills for 6 to 12 months absence do not bear thinking about — few GPs could afford to meet such bills from their own income.
Some practices may qualify for the Primary Care Trust Locum Reimbursement Scheme, but these are in the minority — leaving GPs with no choice but to meet locum costs entirely from their own pockets. Even those that qualify for Reimbursement will find that it is nowhere near sufficient and the maximum only lasts for 26 weeks when it reduces by 50%. You should check with your PCT as to whether you qualify and for how much, before taking out locum cover.
Salaried GPs, Practice Managers and Practice Nurses are not forgotten; you may need to provide Locum cover in the event of their incapacity. They too can be insured by this scheme, enabling your Practice to continue to generate income through the provision of its patient services.
This is where the Pulse Locum Insurance Scheme can help!
Locum Insurance is the most cost effective way for GPs to safeguard their income, their practice and their patients, for periods of incapacity lasting up to 12 months.
The Pulse Locum Insurance Scheme will pay up to £2,000 a week if an accident or illness stops you from working for more than four weeks and you need to engage a locum. The benefit is payable from the 5th week of incapacity up to the 52nd week, or until you are well enough to return to work if earlier.
The scheme has been designed so that it will meet the needs of most GPs who will need a similar amount of benefit to be payable from the end of the 4th week to week 52 because they do not qualify for Locum Reimbursement. But, the needs of those practices that do are not forgotten as cover under the scheme can be arranged to supplement the Locum Reimbursement. Typically cover is provided from the end of week 4 to week 26 to cover the shortfall between the likely locum cost and the Locum Reimbursement - increasing from the end of the 26th week, to offset the 50% reduction in Locum Reimbursement.
For Salaried GPs, Practice Managers and Practice Nurses, cover would be taken out by the Practice, with the benefit level being related to the likely cost of their replacement.
