The Medical Defence Union (MDU) has offered free membership for doctors fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The indemnity organisation recently announced it will ‘waive the first year of membership subscriptions for doctors fleeing Ukraine or other conflict zones and want to resume practise in NHS roles’.
It said that membership will be free for the first year for members working in NHS indemnified roles, but that doctors will first need to register with the GMC.
MDU chief executive Dr Matthew Lee said: ‘Doctors and other healthcare professionals who are fleeing from conflict zones, including the war in Ukraine, have been through a truly horrific time.
‘We want to support these members arriving in the UK with free MDU membership for their first year in NHS practice. This is in recognition of the solidarity healthcare professionals feel with their colleagues in Ukraine and other affected countries.’
He added: ‘Of course, we hope that the healthcare professionals affected will be able to return to their own countries as soon as it is safe to do so, but we want to support them to continue to practise in the meantime.’
MDU guidance said that the free membership is ‘applicable for the first year following GMC registration and excludes existing MDU members’.
It added: ‘Membership is already free for medical students so those fleeing war zones who continue studying medicine in the UK are also encouraged to join.’
The Government has also confirmed that Ukrainian refugees will be guaranteed free access to NHS healthcare including GP appointments, urgent care centres and hospitals.
The NHS had previously reminded GPs that proof of ID is not needed to register with a practice in updated guidance on providing healthcare to people coming from Ukraine.
