NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

My hon. Friend sums up the new clause extremely well. It is not at all empty or superfluous, as the hon. Member for Billericay sought to claim. It does indeed involve a wide, general duty, but it sets the whole tone for how scheme members should carry out their duties and use the measures and avenues that the scheme puts at their disposal. In making decisions, they are at all times legally required to consider the desirability of concluding matters under the scheme. I emphasise to the hon. Gentleman the word ““concluding””, because there is a need for finality, and for giving patients an early apology and explanation of the steps being taken to prevent incidents from happening again. All that is enshrined in the new clause. I am anxious to avoid cases being brought under the scheme, only for some of the old thinking to prevail so that at the point at which they may be settled they are pushed into the legal process. That would lead to duplication of expense and resource, which would not be in the interests of the taxpayer. I believe that we will avoid that by having a clause that promotes the desirability of settling. I am sure that hon. Members in all parts of the House can think of cases, not only in the NHS but in other parts of the public sector, in which individuals have been stonewalled and pushed into pursuing a legal action against a public body, possibly in the hope that they will get fed up and give up, having been ground down by the seemingly interminable process in which they find themselves. That process, which comes about because individuals in organisations will not accept that they have made mistakes and apologise for them, can be extremely wasteful of public resources. It can also ruin people’s lives because they become consumed by a case that ultimately has to be pursued through the courts. As I understand my hon. Friend’s new clause, it is precisely that situation that it seeks to avoid. The new clause signals that the redress scheme is not simply a process parallel to that in the courts but is intended to be the primary means by which disputes arising out of NHS hospital services are, where reasonably practicable, to be resolved, rather than leaving cases to be pursued through the courts. It is drafted in general terms, imposing a general duty to promote resolution. My expectation is that at each stage of the proceedings, the scheme member and/or the scheme authority, if they are considering giving up on the scheme for a specific case, must have regard to the desirability of settling under the scheme. At that point they should consider the means that they have at their disposal, such as the joint instruction of medical experts, and positively consider whether it would be right to take that course of action given the desirability of settling and the awareness that the case may continue by the legal route. The new clause is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the Bill that we have put before the House. It is consistent with the open learning culture that we want to see in the NHS, in which mistakes are identified and acted on at an early stage and in which redress is offered as early as possible. In reinforcing that duty, the new clause adds significantly to the Bill, and I am pleased to signal to my hon. Friend that the Government are prepared to accept it. Question put and agreed to. Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.