NHS Redress Bill [HL]

I am somewhat disappointed by parts of the Minister’s response. On both sides of the Chamber we are committed to the idea that the NHS should learn from its mistakes. We are also all aware—and history has many lessons to tell us about this—that in not all cases has the NHS learned from its mistakes; nor, indeed, has it even been prepared to look at its mistakes, let alone learn from them. My noble friend Lady Barker mentioned the Bristol case. Clearly, that case is well beyond the remit of this scheme. However, it is abundantly clear from the inquiry that plenty of people knew what was going on but did not face up to it. However much we want to encourage people to learn from their mistakes and want to encourage a change of culture in the NHS to get people to face up to what is going on, if there is no element of independence at the start of an investigation, the public will not be reassured. They will not trust the scheme and the NHS will not face up in all cases to what is going on, any more than it does when complaints come up. We know that. I hope that the Minister will go away and reflect on just how strongly the public feel about an independent element and how worried they are about the NHS’s tendency to close ranks.