Earlier this year, a senior psychiatrist in Singapore was suspended for three years after being found guilty of professional misconduct. The misconduct related to prescriptions that went beyond MOH guidelines and the maximum dosages stated on the medication packaging. The patient later died.
The case was widely reported. What was less widely discussed is what it raises for any specialist or private practice doctor thinking about their own insurance.
Not because the facts are directly relevant to most practitioners. But because the questions it surfaces are ones worth having answered before you ever need them.
Your personal policy and your clinic are not the same thing
Registered doctors in Singapore are required to hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of renewing their practising certificate. So most doctors in private practice do hold personal malpractice cover. That part is not the gap.
The gap is at the clinic level.
When a doctor runs their practice through an incorporated company, the company is a separate legal entity from the individual doctor. A patient who wants to bring a civil claim can name the company as well as the doctor. The company took the booking, billed for the treatment, and held the commercial relationship with the patient. From a legal standpoint, the company can be held responsible for what happened in its name.
A personal malpractice policy covers the doctor. It does not automatically extend to the incorporated clinic. If the civil claim is directed at the clinic entity and no entity-level policy is in place, that dimension of the claim is uninsured.
This is one of the most common gaps we see when reviewing specialist and private practice clinic insurance programmes in Singapore. The doctor is covered personally. The clinic they own and operate is not.
The SMC process and a civil claim are two different tracks
This is the distinction most doctors have not thought through, and it genuinely matters.
When a patient or their family makes a complaint to the SMC, the SMC investigates your conduct as a registered doctor. The SMC process is about your licence. It can result in a reprimand, conditions on your practice, a suspension, or removal from the register. What it does not do is compensate the patient.
If the patient or their family also wants compensation, they bring a civil claim in the courts. That is a completely separate process. It runs independently of the SMC inquiry, often in parallel, and the outcome of one does not determine the outcome of the other.
A well-structured medical malpractice policy addresses both tracks. The civil claim is covered through the main policy. SMC disciplinary proceedings are covered as an Inquiry, which most medical malpractice policies define to include hearings before a disciplinary body of an accredited medical professional association. Legal representation expenses at an SMC inquiry are typically covered up to a sub-limit within the policy.
What this means in practice is that your policy wording and the sub-limits within it matter. The overall policy limit is not the only number to review at renewal. The sub-limit that applies specifically to Inquiry representation costs is a separate figure, and confirming it is adequate for the realistic cost of legal representation through an SMC disciplinary process is a practical step worth taking.
The more experienced you are, the more that is expected of you
The court in this case treated the doctor's seniority as an aggravating factor. The reasoning is straightforward: a senior specialist is held to a higher standard than a junior practitioner, because they are presumed to have the knowledge and experience to apply that standard.
For insurance purposes, this has a practical implication.
If a civil claim is brought against a senior specialist, the patient's legal team will argue the case on the basis of what that specialist should have known and done, not what an average practitioner would have done. The damages claimed will reflect that higher standard.
A PI limit that was set based on practice size or revenue, rather than on the realistic scale of a claim from your most complex patient relationship, may not be adequate for a specialist of significant standing.
This is not a reason to be anxious. It is a reason to make sure the cover you hold reflects where you actually are in your career, not where you were when you first arranged it.
Three questions worth raising at your next renewal
Does your clinic hold its own entity-level malpractice cover, or only your personal policy? If the clinic is incorporated and only the personal policy is in place, a civil claim directed at the company entity is not covered.
Does your policy include cover for legal representation at SMC disciplinary proceedings, and at what sub-limit? Most medical malpractice policies cover this as an Inquiry, but the sub-limit is a separate figure from the main policy limit. Confirm it reflects the realistic cost of legal representation through an SMC process.
Is your overall PI limit appropriate for a specialist practice? The right limit is not what a junior doctor needs. It is what a senior specialist with complex patients and a long treatment history needs.
You can read more about our medical malpractice cover on the products page and about why a personal policy alone may not be enough in our post on Three Clinic Stories: Why a Personal Malpractice Policy Is Not Enough.
If you are a specialist or private practice doctor and would like to talk through whether your current cover reflects your actual practice, we would be glad to work through it with you.
This article provides general information only. It is not insurance or legal advice. The case referenced is drawn from publicly reported Court of Three Judges proceedings, judgment handed down February 2025, and is cited here only as context. Registered doctors in Singapore are required to hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of practising certificate renewal under the Medical Registration Act. The description of Inquiry coverage reflects general market practice for medical malpractice policies and individual policy wordings and sub-limits vary. MOH clinical guidelines and SMC professional standards are sourced from published MOH and SMC guidance. Policy availability, terms, conditions, and exclusions vary by insurer and product, and cover is subject to the full policy wording. Please contact TZY CO for advice on your specific situation.