NHS Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 19:"Page 3, line 17, at end insert—" ““(   )   There shall be a duty upon scheme members to inform a patient when a mistake has been made.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, this amendment is on a similar thing, and the Minister touched on the duty of scheme members to inform a patient when a mistake has been made. I note what he said about the provisions that already exist within this clause on the notification of commencement proceedings under the scheme. That is slightly different from what is being asked for in the amendment—that there be a duty on scheme members to inform a patient when a mistake has been made. Here we return to the main part of Making Amends which has not made it into this Bill, namely the duty of candour, which the Chief Medical Officer said should form any part of a redress scheme. We talked about that at considerable length in Committee. We on these Benches have not yet been convinced by the Government on it. The proposals put forward in the clause do not necessarily add up to what we are asking for. Quite simply, an individual should be informed when a mistake has been made, whether or not the redress scheme is activated. If the Minister goes by the answers that he gave to the previous group of amendments, there can be all sorts of reasons why somebody would not be told—for example, the adverse incident that had happened to them was not considered to be eligible within the terms of the redress scheme. They would not be informed of the mistake. For those reasons, I beg to move.