Duty, indemnity and immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Some 7000 nurses have answered the NHS's call to return to practice to assist with the care and treatment of large numbers of patients infected with COVID-19, many of whom require intensive nursing (Gilroy, 2020). The reconfiguration of services has seen current nurses undergo retraining to allow them to work in intensive care settings and newly established field hospitals.

This combination of returning and inexperienced nurses working in unfamiliar settings, and the overwhelming numbers of patients putting a strain on services, has led to concerns that the NHS could face an unprecedented number of claims for negligence. The Medical Defence Union has called on the Government to grant immunity to NHS staff to prevent these damaging claims (Bowcott, 2020).

This article reviews the arrangements for providing nurses with indemnity against negligence claims and considers whether immunity is needed or likely to be granted.