NHS Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 26A:"Page 3, line 40, at end insert—" ““(2A)   A scheme may make provision for access to an independent medico-legal expert agreeable both to the scheme authority and the person involved in the case which has been the subject of a report by the Patient Redress Investigator. (2B)   Both the scheme authority and the person involved in the case shall agree to be bound by the findings of the independent medico-legal expert.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, we return to another key area of discussion on the Bill. During Grand Committee my noble friend Lady Neuberger in particular talked about the importance of the Resolve-type schemes that had been piloted and the ways in which those pilot schemes had demonstrated the value of having easy and swift access to medical and legal advice at an early stage, to ensure that people who had an adverse incident within the NHS could obtain redress swiftly and—crucially—without recourse to the courts. I said earlier that we would be discussing an important matter on which the House has made its views known—having an independent first stage during which facts could be established. I also talked about the need to ensure that, once such a report had been made, there be means by which an individual can be given advice in order to know whether it is appropriate for them either to be part of the redress scheme or to take their case to court. It is important that it is medico-legal advice; that is, given by someone who has not just an understanding of the law but sufficient understanding of medical and clinical issues, a matter to which the Minister referred earlier. Throughout the debates it has concerned me that it has been unclear exactly how people would obtain such specialist advice. On these matters, the Minister again spoke at length in the letters that he sent to me and the noble Earl, Lord Howe. He talked about the role of ICAS. What he had to say was not sufficient for the type of work about which we are talking. Let us be clear about ICAS; ICAS officers are employed by trusts. They are engaged in a process termed advocacy, which is specifically not the giving of advice. Advocacy is enabling an individual to make their thoughts known. It is different from an individual having recourse to independent medico-legal advice. It is therefore important that we make the provision, so that we can ensure that people are not left adrift. That addresses one of the points of criticism that the Minister made of Amendment No. 42, in that it was incomplete. This measure should be seen clearly in conjunction with the work of the patient redress investigators. It is short of what the noble Earl, Lord Howe, spoke of on previous occasions as a McKenzie friend—having someone throughout to give advice—but it is the necessary service that an individual would need to be able to determine where their case should go next. Having such a provision in the Bill is important. I therefore beg to move.