Legal & General Group Protection has announced the appointment of Dr Tarun Gupta to the position of chief medical officer.
Dr Gupta originally joined as medical officer in September 2020, with a focus on the Group Protection business. As chief medical officer, his remit expands to supporting and advising on Legal & General Retail’s wider protection proposition, including underwriting, claims management and client relationships.
The current long-standing chief medical officer, Professor Robert Rubens, steps down after more than 30 years (in January 2023), but remains as one of Legal & General’s medical officers.
Gupta has a wealth of experience in his field and draws upon his background as an NHS GP, Occupational Physician and Specialist Advisor to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to serve as a resource for Legal & General’s group and individual claims, underwriting and clinical teams. He provides medical opinion on complex cases, applying his expertise to comprehensively assess functional ability, interpret disparate medical evidence and address appeals, including decisions by the Financial Ombudsman Service, to help achieve the right and fair decision for claims.
His clinical interest is mental health and he previously advised the National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) as a Guideline Committee Member on the ‘Depression in Adults: treatment and management’ guideline (2020-2022) and as Clinical Lead for Mental Health for the largest CCG in England (2018-2022).
Currently, he serves on the Assurance Medical Underwriting Society (AMUS) committee and the Legal & General Wellbeing Advisory Board; a body of experts across a range of clinical, occupational, vocational rehabilitation and business consulting fields, with a remit to provide simple, accessible and practical health and wellbeing guidance to employers and employees.
Vanessa Sallows, claims & governance director, Legal & General Group Protection, said: “I am delighted to welcome Tarun into the role of chief medical officer. His experience has already proven invaluable, not only the support he gives on complex case reviews, but the training and support he gives to the claims team.
“I’d also like to wholeheartedly thank Professor Robert Rubens for his commitment to and support of Legal & General over many years of service and it’s wonderful that he is staying within the organisation as a medical officer.”
Gupta added: “ I’m excited to be growing my career within Legal & General and to have the opportunity to further contribute across business development, thought leadership and clinical governance. Also, to help with the evolution of products and services to reflect the shift in the industry in terms of taking a more proactive, preventative, holistic approach to wellbeing as part of the UK income protection proposition.”
