Under the scheme, GPs who have paid GMC fees during a period of parental leave will receive an equivalent credit against their Medical Defense Society membership payments.

The initiative is available to new and existing Medical Defense Society members and applies retrospectively to doctors who have taken parental leave within the previous 12 months.

DAUK campaign

It follows DAUK’s campaign over the GMC’s policy of charging registration fees during parental leave.

Currently, the GMC annual retention fee is £481. It offers a 50% discount if a doctor’s total annual income falls below £37,000.

In contrast, royal colleges typically waive or reduce fees, and the BMA offers a reduced rate.

The initiative is open to GPs, GP partners and locum GPs.

Parental leave

Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK co-chair, said: “Doctors should not be penalised financially for taking their statutory entitled parental leave.

“We have consistently raised our concerns about the continued charging of GMC fees during parental leave, which we feel is unfair and may disproportionately impact women.

“We are pleased to have worked with Medical Defense Society to develop this initiative which recognises the importance of new parents being able to bond with their child, while helping to ease the financial pressures faced by GPs at a significant moment in their lives.

“This is a first step and we hope to work with more providers in the future to widen access and reduce the burden of these unnecessary fees.

“In the meantime, we continue to call for doctors on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave, to have their GMC fee reduced in proportion to the period of leave.”

Financially disadvantaged

Rohan Simon, CEO of Medical Defense Society, said: “GPs should not be financially disadvantaged for taking parental leave.

“At a time when doctors are stepping away from practice to care for their families, the continued cost of professional registration can feel both unfair and unnecessary.

“Medical Defense Society was created to offer a more modern, responsive approach to medical defence. Working with DAUK on this initiative allows us to turn a widely recognised concern into practical support for GPs.

“By giving eligible GPs a practical way to get the value of their GMC fee back, we hope to ease some of the financial pressure and send a clear message that parental leave should be supported.”

GPs can find out more about the Medical Defense Society Parental Leave Scheme, including eligibility and how to apply, by clicking here.

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One of our newest committee members GP Dr Elizabeth Toberty has been campaigning for weeks on unfair GMC fees during maternity and shared parental leave.

Previously doctors only qualified for reduced GMC fees if their income fell below £32K for the year between August and July (arbitrary dates set by the GMC for renewal).

This hugely disadvantages doctors who have a baby during the winter months, as their income might not fall below that threshold, even those who are on maternity or shared parental leave for a year.

As a result of Lizzie’s lobbying we have heard from the GMC that they will now allow reduced fees for any doctor who’s income falls below the threshold for ANY 12 month period around their maternity or shared parental leave. This will mean that many more doctors will rightly qualify for the discount.

We still have a way to go. The £32,000 threshold has not changed for years despite inflation. In addition we question why doctors should pay £400/year and up to simply stay on the register even if they are not having any patient contact.

We will continue to work with the GMC on this and question what we feel are extortionate and disproportionate fees.

Thank you to Lizzie and the DAUK GP advisory committee for taking this forward.

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