The MDU is a founding signatory of the Code of Practice: a voluntary, sector-led code for medical defence organisations (MDOs). The code has been produced with the Department of Health and Social Care, and exists to promote the highest standards of transparency.

We are a proud signatory of the code, which outlines a number of the commitments we make to our members - from reasonableness in how we make decisions to transparency around our funding.

As a well-led, appropriately funded MDO with 140 years' experience of supporting healthcare professionals, we can assure our members that we're here to guide, support and defend them throughout their professional lives.

MDU fair treatment of members policy

As a mutual, members are at the heart of everything we do. We take pride in being there to guide, support, and defend them when they need us most.

Our members rightly expect us to act with integrity and in their best interests at all times. Two of our company values are 'member centric' and 'fair', and we strive to reflect these throughout the member experience.

In line with our values, this policy outlines our commitment to treating members fairly in every interaction they have with us.

Benefits of membership

All benefits of MDU membership are discretionary, as set out in our memorandum and articles of association.

This includes the right for a member to ask for assistance with indemnity for clinical negligence claims.

When deciding whether or not to assist a member, we will always review the individual circumstances surrounding their case.

Each member's case is considered by a panel of qualified advisers who exercise their good judgement, based on their experience and knowledge of modern practice, to determine if we can help in this instance.

We make sure our benefits of membership are clearly explained and include information on the types of matters where members are likely to be assisted, and where they are not.

The benefits of membership are set out in our member guides:

MDU member guide
DDU member guide

Communication with members

Our communications contain fair and accurate information, so current and prospective members are kept informed about their membership benefits.

Members can update their communication preferences via our website to select how they hear from us.

Our colleagues

The MDU has a unique mix of medical, dental and professional colleagues who are proud to help guide, support and defend our members.

Our culture and corporate governance structure enables colleagues to deliver a fair and positive member experience by ensuring our affairs are dealt with responsibly and effectively, with risk management and reporting systems in place.

Where possible, we encourage colleagues to identify and avoid potential conflicts of interest, but we also have processes in place to manage any situations where conflicts arise.

Compliance with the law, transparency and fair competition

Fairness runs through everything we do. We are committed to carrying out our business with integrity and in full compliance with our legal obligations.

We support free and fair competition and strive to deal with all parties fairly and equally.

Unlawful business practices

We will not conduct business that is unlawful, fraudulent or corrupt, and we require suppliers and third parties we work with to reflect this ethos.

We will pursue all appropriate legal remedies against third parties or MDU colleagues involved in unlawful business practices, including bribery and modern slavery.

Complaints

We aim to provide a world-class service, but there may be times when a member wants to raise a concern or make a complaint. If this happens, we aim to resolve complaints quickly and fairly. We take all complaints seriously and use member feedback to improve the service we provide.

All complaints will be:

treated seriously and fairly, regardless of how they are made
treated confidentially
handled promptly, in a clear and transparent manner
examined thoroughly to identify any patterns.

If you need to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, please contact the relevant team using the details in our complaints procedure.