Clause 6
NHS Redress Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Andy Burnham (Minister of State (Delivery and Quality), Department of Health; Leigh, Labour)
I do not disagree with that point. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues have made great play of the point about separating fact finding from fault finding. The scheme, as envisaged, has a separation between those two functions, in that an investigation will be carried out at local level by the organisation concerned, which would be followed by decisions on liability, taken by the scheme authority, and subsequently on quantum, if relevant, on the basis of the facts of the investigation. There is some separation of functions, but within the structure of a unified, single scheme.
Let us be clear that a significant number of investigators would be required if they were to be able to investigate the volume of complaints made. Last week, I answered a parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), and the number of complaints handled every year by trusts was detailed trust by trust. The volume is huge, and the data will be provided to Committee members for reference. We would be talking about an enormous volume of work, should that be passed to an independent body of investigators.
The hon. Gentleman proposes that the investigators should be accountable for their work and overseen by the Healthcare Commission. That is separation between their function and the assessment of liability and quantum by the NHS Litigation Authority.