NHS Redress Bill [HL]

I support the noble Earl, Lord Howe, on Amendments Nos. 45 and 47 and shall speak to Amendment No. 44. As we discussed on Monday, when we were last in Grand Committee, the real issue about the provision of legal advice is made all the more serious because we now have in the Bill a tort-based system as opposed to one where any complaint might be taken up. We also know that that is not precisely what the Chief Medical Officer seemed to have in mind when he wrote Making Amends. The noble Earl, Lord Howe, raised that very forcefully when we discussed it on Monday. It seems that the provision of legal advice is essential not only at the point of making an offer, as we have in the Bill, but right at the beginning; otherwise how can the individual patient possibly know whether they are eligible for the scheme and what it would be sensible for them to do? It seems essential that advice, not necessarily of someone legally qualified but of somebody sufficiently competent and specialised to give it, must be available to people right at the beginning. It is not fair for them only to be able to access legal advice, as the Explanatory Notes make clear, if they are made an offer, and not to deal with eligibility. For that reason, we strongly support Amendments Nos. 45 and 47, and wish to add, essentially, a new clause after Clause 7.