Clause 6
NHS Redress Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Andy Burnham (Minister of State (Delivery and Quality), Department of Health; Leigh, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman in the nicest possible way is helping me to move on, and I am grateful for his invitation to do so. I shall do so by picking up the important point about bureaucracy. Were we to go down the path that the Bill as it stands lays out, the scheme would create unnecessary bureaucracy and cost. The Healthcare Commission would be responsible for overseeing the investigation stage. The scheme authority would be responsible for the second stage, which is determining liability and appropriate level of compensation. No single body would have overall responsibility for the oversight of the operation of the redress scheme as a whole.
In our view, the scheme authority would be compromised and would have no power to ensure that the overall scheme operates effectively. The crucial point to which we keep returning is that we would weaken the vital link between investigation and learning, which was provided by the Bill before it was amended. I agree with the hon. Gentleman.
The Opposition have a further problem, in that the Healthcare Commission says clearly that it is neither qualified nor inclined to take up the role envisaged for it by clause 12. Opposition Members should give careful thought to that.