DDU appoints new head of claims handling to continue success in defending cases
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 16th June 2020
The Medical Defence Union (MDU), the parent company of the Dental Defence Union (DDU), has appointed David Pranklin as its new head of claims handling. David succeeds Jill Harding, who led the department for 17 years and recently retired.
David heads up a 36 strong multi-disciplinary team of claims handling experts supporting the MDU’s 200,000 dental professional, doctor and other healthcare worker members facing clinical negligence claims. With a background in the insurance industry, David has worked for the MDU for 22 years, most recently as the technical claims manager with responsibility for leading on high value claims and complex cases as well as deputising for the role he now occupies.
The DDU has an enviable track record of defending claims on behalf of its members. In the last 12 months almost 70% of dental claims were defended successfully and closed without payment of damages.
David explained: “I feel hugely privileged to take on this role and look forward to building on the firm foundations laid by Jill during her years of service. The team has achieved some excellent results in defending claims against members and I look forward to continuing this good work. We know how stressful it can be for our members involved in a clinical negligence claim. For dental professionals, claims are usually made against the individual practitioner and can be very concerning for them. Our role is to relieve the burden for our members, acting in their best interests.
‘Claims against members are not usually indicators of poor or unsafe practice, but unfortunately they are often perceived that way. Because they are personal, claims against members are a very different prospect to claims against institutions. They need an individual approach and our claims team’s excellent results, sustained year on year, demonstrate that members are safe in our hands.”
The DDU recently called for healthcare professionals to be spared from the stress and anxiety of dental negligence claims during the pandemic. The DDU argues that healthcare professionals must be accountable for their actions but the unprecedented circumstances in which care was provided must be remembered when investigating medical negligence claims arising from the pandemic.
