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Health and Social Care Bill

I have an amendment in this group. The discussion already demonstrates that we almost have equipoise on some of these issues. My amendment would ensure that an independent legal adviser must be present. My concern is that if you have a legally qualified chair without a legal adviser, the chair could be put in the situation where he or she is also a legal adviser, in effect advising him or herself by wearing two hats. That does not push the debate towards an independent chair. I also have a big concern about the concept of a pilot scheme, as it sounds a little like a randomised clinical trial but without the benefit of informed consent. You could never have a clinical trial in medicine without informed consent. Yet here we have the equivalent in a hearing about a doctor, so I have great concern about this. My personal view is that the training of the chair in the relevant procedures for the hearing is more important than what kind of university degree they have. They may have got it 20 years ago. The fact that they have a legal or medical degree does not mean that they are up to speed on procedures, are well trained and will conduct a hearing well. I would much rather have rigorous rules on the background training of whoever will chair this, so that they really understand the civil burden of proof, which we will come to later and which is the most contentious issue of all, whatever their background undergraduate degree. However, I also want to ensure that we retain a legal adviser, given that a doctor’s whole livelihood is at stake.