NHS Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 44:"Page 7, line 12, after ““other”” insert ““statutory””" The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in Committee noble Lords raised concerns that no explicit provision was made for misdirected complaints to be appropriately redirected by either the scheme member or the scheme authority. Many patients find the complaints processes relating to their NHS care difficult to understand and to navigate. Often, the complaint is initially directed to their healthcare provider. Patients and carers involved with the NHS redress scheme may, mistakenly, believe that all complaints, whether arising out of their care or out of the handling of their case under the redress scheme, should go to the scheme member or the scheme authority. However, that may not always be appropriate. We therefore understand that, through no fault of the complainant, confusion may arise. Amendment Nos. 44 to 47 together introduce a power to put in place arrangements to ensure that complaints made under the redress scheme complaints procedure, but raising matters that fall under another statutory complaints procedure, are referred directly to the appropriate body. To refer complaints in this manner is a matter of good practice. The amendments mean not only that patients using the scheme will not be responsible for finding the appropriate body to which to refer their complaint if it is misdirected through the redress scheme complaints procedure, but that their complaints will not be unnecessarily delayed. The possibility that some adjustment of the appropriate procedure may be necessary to allow complaints to be redirected, without the patient having to take action, has also been provided for. The intention behind Amendment No. 48 is to ensure that personal data gathered under the redress scheme complaints procedure can be exempt from certain provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998—namely, the subject information provisions. This exemption will, in any case, apply only to the extent to which the application of those provisions would be likely to prejudice the proper discharge of the function of considering the complaint. The subject information provisions of the Data Protection Act allow for individuals, except in certain defined circumstances, to seek and obtain information held on them by others. Section 31 of the Data Protection Act provides an exemption from these provisions by reference to a number of different categories of regulatory function. Section 31(6) exempts personal data processed for the purpose of considering a complaint, including complaints about healthcare under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. Amendment No. 48 therefore makes a scheme member or scheme authority considering a complaint under the redress scheme complaints procedure also exempt from the subject information provisions, to the extent to which applying those provisions would be likely to prejudice the proper discharge of their function of considering the complaint. As already mentioned, under the existing NHS complaints procedure, personal data gathered for the purposes of considering a complaint may not be disclosed to the complainant to the extent to which this would prejudice the proper consideration of the complaint. For reasons of consistency, we believe that a similar exemption should apply to the redress scheme complaints procedure. I beg to move.