NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

I shall add one brief point. The Minister and the Government are deluding themselves in their claim that the Bill will transform the culture of the NHS. I say that for two reasons. First, we on the Conservative Benches are learning a little about culture change, and we know that it requires strong management and strong signals of change. The more I look at the Bill, the more it strikes me that it does little more than formalise what already happens. I cannot see that that is a strong signal of change to the NHS. Secondly, because necessarily at no point in the process is the legal threat removed—it remains as a sword potentially hanging over the situation at all times—I cannot see how that will make the NHS any more welcoming of a breathing space to face up to its failings or become more active in identifying problems. That is a delusion— it would be much better to focus, as we do, on how the patients will respond to the opportunity. They will have two questions— first, who will find out the facts? The Government say that will be done by the very trust that made the mistake. Secondly, who will define liability? The answer is the very agency whose priority is to defend the NHS. It is very difficult to see how patients will have any more confidence in the new system. It would be far better to focus on a guarantee of independence, as we propose, to find the facts.