The increased exposure to principal dentists when it comes to vicarious liability highlights the need to consider more than just their own indemnity when it comes to protecting themselves in a world of changing litigation risks.
News broke that a principal dentist, Dr Croad, who had retired from clinical practise over 20 years ago was found to be liable for compensation awards and claimants’ legal costs despite having sold his practice 7 years prior.
The alleged negligence pertained to treatment provided by two self-employed associates working in his practice before he sold it. Unbelievably, Dr Croad did not have any indemnity in place which would cover defence costs or compensation following the activities of his associates at the practice. This meant he had no choice other than to fund this case out of his own pocket to the tune of around £100k to compensate the patient.