NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

My hon. Friend is right. Trying to get a much faster and more open response to complaints and things that have gone wrong is precisely what the Bill tackles. As he suggests, all too often, patients and their families feel that the harm that the original incident did is compounded by delays in investigating the complaint and especially by the legal system that deals with clinical negligence cases. Too often, it is perceived as complicated, slow, unfair and costly in time as well as legal fees. Patients and their families often do not get either the explanation or the apology that they want. It is also fair to say that the system is equally unsatisfactory from the point of view of NHS staff because clinicians can end up spending far too much time on legal processes which they could be using to care for other patients. Staff morale can be damaged, and because the current arrangements encourage a culture of defensiveness, the NHS loses the opportunity to use the experience and information that patients provide to improve care and clinical practice for the future. Growing dissatisfaction with all those problems led the chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, to produce his report, ““Making Amends”” in 2003, which set out a series of recommendations for reforming the way in which the NHS responds to clinical negligence. I am sure that hon. Members of all parties will want to join me in paying tribute to Sir Liam, who is an outstanding champion of patient safety. The Bill effects Sir Liam’s recommendation to introduce a much simpler and faster NHS redress scheme. It also responds to the recommendations of the health service ombudsman, Ann Abraham, in her report on the NHS complaints procedure, which was published earlier this year.