Medical Practitioners Must be Insured

Regulations published on 30 August 2010 under the Health Professions Act require health practitioners, which include doctors, specialists, dentists and psychologists practising for their own account, whether in partnership, association or by way of a company allowed for in the Act, to obtain professional indemnity insurance. The insurance must be obtained from an insurer registered under the Short-term Insurance Act.

The requirement does not extend to those practitioners employed, for example, by the State at provincial hospitals. That is presumably on the basis that the State is liable for the negligent conduct of those professionals and has the financial means to meet any judgment.