NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

We have had a long discussion on this group of amendments, during which the Opposition’s confusion has been laid completely bare. Amendments Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 seek completely to separate fact-finding investigations under the redress scheme from fault finding. The scheme authority would have no role in the investigation and would be unable to provide guidance or advice to scheme members about investigations. The opportunity for a unified and complete scheme for redress would be lost. I reject the amendments and encourage my hon. Friends to do likewise. The amendments focus on a major area of disagreement—namely, independent investigation. In another place, the Opposition gave us the model of"““suitably qualified patient redress investigators””" who were to conduct the fact-finding investigation in each case and to be overseen by the Healthcare Commission, which was also to be responsible for maintaining and publishing a list of the investigators. On Second Reading, the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) defended that proposal. In Committee, we saw it slowly unravel as the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron) sought to explain it to us. When we asked him to describe exactly how it would work and, importantly, how much it would cost, he said:"““at the top we have one person, an NHS redress investigator, who is truly independent and oversees the fact-finding stage.””—[Official Report, Standing Committee B, 13 June 2006; c. 43.]" That is not what the amendment in the other place provided for. It clearly stated that the patient redress investigators were to conduct the investigation of the facts of a case and produce a report on the principal findings. In Committee, the redress investigator was no longer to conduct the case but to play an oversight role. The proposal somehow changed between Second Reading and Committee. We now have a new proposal whereby an individual would be independent of the trust. However, the hon. Member for Billericay has provided no clarity about who would employ that individual—another NHS trust, the Healthcare Commission or a different organisation. We have no idea of the proposed number of independent investigators, yet we are asked to accept an amendment that includes no detail, with complete policy confusion behind it. The hon. Gentleman challenged me on several occasions by saying that I was opposed to independence and had a fundamental objection to it. I hope that I partly convinced him that the Bill and the amendments that we have tabled today will mean more openness and transparency. There is independence in the scheme in that we can use independent medical experts. Independent legal advice will also be provided to individuals at the end of the scheme. However, if the hon. Gentleman is asking me to explain again the purpose of the scheme, I stress that we are considering the national health service doing better what it should do ordinarily—investigate complaints brought by patients and not cause huge delay and frustration when patients try to have a complaint investigated. We are considering the NHS conducting the first stage of complaints better. My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Simon) was right to say that the Opposition have consistently misunderstood the point. Why would we replicate the legal process in the scheme? It is an out-of-court settlement scheme. Why on earth would we build into it all the expense of the independent legal process?