James Kingham, dentolegal adviser at the Dental Defence Union (DDU), discusses reasons why you should choose the DDU as your indemnity provider.
As a DDU member, you can be sure that you receive unrivalled dentolegal expertise. Indeed, the DDU supported 101 dental student cases over the last five years.
If you haven’t yet needed our expert support, practical advice and legal representation, it is important to know what your indemnity provider can help you with. Here are some of the benefits we can offer members:
1. Indemnity advice from dentists with real-world experience
Our dentolegal advice team is led and staffed by dentists with real-life experience of the pressures and challenges faced in practice. We are just a phone call away and speak to thousands of members every year. Calling our advice line is free, treated in the strictest of confidence, and does not affect future subscriptions.
We are available between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday. For dentolegal emergencies or urgent queries, the DDU can provide support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our advice line answered almost 24,000 calls in 2022.
Additionally, over the last five years, we assisted members with over 99% of requests and our member guide sets out clearly what members can expect from us.
2. Access to expert defence
In a 30-year career a dentist might face a clinical negligence claim. The DDU’s dentolegal advisers, claims handlers and in-house legal department have an excellent track record in representing dental professionals who are facing allegations about their clinical practice. If we are able to defend the claim, we will. We think it is vital to do this for the profession.
Additionally, over 16,000 dental members have been supported with complaints and professional matters over the last five years. In 2022, almost 80% of GDC cases handled by DDU in-house lawyers were resolved without a formal hearing.
3. Our associate contract-checking service
Our dentolegal experts can advise on the wording of associate agreements, check contracts against best practice guidelines and have access to DDU model contracts, developed with specialist dental lawyers.
We have also negotiated competitive rates for DDU members who wish to take a contract dispute further and need specific legal advice. Call our advice line if you have any questions about your contract.
4. Online learning and development
The DDU website contains a wealth of practical guides, case studies and online learning modules to help you stay up to date with everything from using social media ethically to complaints handling. You can also find in-depth features, interviews and advice line dilemmas in our online DDU Journal.
5. Access our expertise 24/7 with the DDU membership app
The DDU’s app is available exclusively for members. Customise the app to get tailored content, search frequently asked questions and read the DDU’s case studies, guides and articles whenever you want.
The app is available to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The DDU is here for students. Our advisory support team is available to all members via [email protected]. We are staffed by dentolegal experts, who are all experienced dentists. Student membership is free and first year graduate membership is £10. To learn more and to join the DDU visit www.theddu.com/join.
