Accreditation practice pointer: we have appropriate indemnity insurance

C3.6 B Our practice confirms that the appropriate indemnity is in place for research, based on the level of risk.

RACGP Standards for general practice

This Criterion does not apply to general practices that do not conduct any research.

General practices participating in research must have a record of the indemnity insurance in place, relevant to the research project’s level of risk. Likewise, the practice must have proof of indemnity for all clinicians involved with the research.

Practices should consider having a process addressing practice communication with external researchers and their risk requirements. They should also consider contacting their indemnity insurer to confirm the practice has the appropriate level of cover for the research being undertaken where it is not explicit in your policy.

Clinical trials, for example, are high risk. In this situation, the sponsor (ie. a pharmaceutical company) will organise the indemnity insurance. However, practices need to check the indemnity covers all liabilities. Should the indemnity be insufficient, practices need to organise additional insurance.

When the research is not clinical, practices need to evaluate potential risks through discussions with the practice team, the researcher and the indemnity insurer.