NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

I cannot think of any reason. The Minister implied that he would like patients always to be provided with a copy of the report. He suggested that when it was not the patient but someone else who asked for the report, it should not necessarily be provided, but such a provision could be included in the Bill. I think that hon. Members in both Opposition parties would urge the Minister to make that change, even at this late stage. I am rightly being urged to keep my speech short, but, before I conclude, I ask the Minister to think about the clinicians’ point of view. Imagine that, in a trust such as the one that I have described, there was a clinician who was not too popular with the trust’s management, and a complaint was received. Who investigates it? Does an independent fact-finder who is experienced in such investigations, and to whom we can look for an objective assessment of the facts, come in from outside? No, the trust’s management, with whom the clinician may have a fractious relationship, decides on the facts of the case, writes up the report and may conceivably release it to the patient. Quite possibly, that patient’s first act will be to stop at the local newspaper office on his way to the lawyers.