Through the Clinical Indemnity Scheme, State indemnity is provided to State authorities in respect of the provision of professional medical services.

Professional medical services means —
a) services provided by registered medical practitioners or registered dentists of a diagnostic or palliative nature, or consisting of the provision of treatment, or the conduct of research in respect of any illness, disease, injury or other medical condition,
b) services provided by other health professionals in the performance of their duties, including pharmacists, nurses, midwives, paramedics ambulance personnel, laboratory technicians, or
c) services connected with the provision of health or medical care provided by persons acting under the direction of a person to whom paragraph (a) or (b) applies.

The scheme does not cover General Practitioner services, except where such services are provided on behalf of a State authority covered by the Scheme.

State authorities for the purposes of the Clinical Indemnity Scheme are primarily the HSE and organisations in the voluntary health and social care sector to which the Minister for Health has provided an indemnity in respect of clinical claims.

Under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme, State authorities assume legal liability for their employees’ alleged clinical negligence. When a claim is made against a State authority, it remains the legal defendant. However, we take over responsibility for managing and resolving the claim on the State authority’s behalf, in line with our statutory mandate. The State authority remains responsible for all damages and third-party costs associated with settling the claim.

Get in touch

If you are a State authority and you have a query about the Clinical Indemnity Scheme or any aspect of State indemnity, get in touch with us using our contact form.