Leaving ROCS
What happens if I cease to be eligible for ROCS?
What insurance arrangements should I consider when re-entering the workforce after an absence?
What if I return to work part-time, only a day or two a week?
Am I still eligible for ROCS if I perform services other than medical treatment in retirement?
Am I still eligible for ROCS if I return to work in the public sector, for example in public hospitals?
Leaving ROCS
What happens if I cease to be eligible for ROCS?
If your circumstances change and you longer meet any of the ROCS eligibility criteria you will not be covered for any claims first notified from the date that you cease to be eligible.
You should immediately advise the insurer who issued your ROCS notice.
If you wish to maintain cover when you cease to be eligible for the ROCS you should purchase separate medical indemnity insurance (including retroactive cover). To ensure that this happens smoothly, you should make these arrangements before you cease to be eligible for the ROCS. For example, a doctor on maternity leave should purchase cover before going back to work.
However, any valid claims that were notified while you were eligible will continue to be met by the ROCS even if you subsequently become ineligible.
Top of Page
What insurance arrangements should I consider when re-entering the workforce after an absence?
Doctors who re-enter the private medical workforce (i.e. to resume private medical practice after maternity leave) will cease to be eligible for the ROCS for current and previous incidents, so you should take out separate medical indemnity cover (including retroactive cover).
What if I return to work part-time, only a day or two a week?
Doctors who return to paid work as medical professionals will be ineligible for the ROCS regardless of how few hours they work, so they should therefore take out their own medical indemnity cover.
Am I still eligible for ROCS if I perform services other than medical treatment in retirement?
Doctors in private medical practice who perform services other than medical treatment (eg providing advice on a consultancy basis or acting as an expert witness) may still be excluded from the ROCS. You should contact your insurer in these cases.
Am I still eligible for ROCS if I return to work in the public sector, for example in public hospitals?
Yes. ROCS-eligible doctors who take up public-sector employment remain eligible for the ROCS (providing they are not also engaging in private practice such as treating private patients or claiming against Medicare).
This is because the ROCS is designed to cover doctors who have left private practice, for incidents which occurred during that practice. It would not be reasonable to expect public-sector employers to cover doctors’ previous private practice.
However doctors working in the public sector will require coverage for incidents occurring in the course of this work - ordinarily this will be provided by the employer, and therefore will be outside the scope of the ROCS.
