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NHS Redress Bill [HL]

The problem with Clause 6 is that it lacks basic detail, such as the composition of the body that will run the scheme. We know that it will be the NHSLA, but we do not know any more than that. We do not know what the composition of the tribunal will be that will determine liability. How will the NHSLA configure itself in order to fulfil its functions? We are still little further forward on that question, and I find that unsatisfactory. It would be helpful if the Minister were able to expand a little further on what we have already been told. Can he say, for example, whether proceedings under the scheme will be inquisitorial or adversarial as regards the award of compensation? It is an important distinction in practice. The Minister will be aware of my major objection to what is proposed here. It is that a non-judicial body, the NHSLA, will be tasked with determining liability and assessing and awarding compensation for claims of negligence. The Minister did make it clear that the whole process is not intended to be judicial, but it seems to me that those are quasi-judicial issues. In my judgment, they are not issues which an in-house administrative body in the NHS should be performing. Therefore, I think that I have to put the question again: how can the proposal to put the NHSLA in charge be justified in the light of that issue, and how does it pass the test of fairness in the context of the usual norms of legal theory and process?