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NHS Redress Bill [Lords]

I appreciate the Minister’s generosity in taking interventions and I thank him for that. He and we agree that this scheme should be an alternative to going to court; that is the Government’s and the Opposition’s stated aim. However, does the Minister accept that the scheme’s credibility therefore becomes very important? There is more likelihood of patients not going to court if they have faith in the scheme being presented to them. The best way of having faith in the scheme is ensuring that it has credibility, and the best way of ensuring that is to ensure that it is truly independent. Otherwise, many patients will come to the conclusion that it is not independent and that there is no change from the present situation. They have had the internal system many times before and now they want something different. The difference that they want is independence.