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Health and Social Care Bill

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes a powerful point. We in this House must be supremely conscious to ensure that justice can be done, and can be seen to be done. We are talking about a quasi-judicial area, and it is of course important not to discourage whistleblowing, which is one of the best sources of information. The Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw), and I have been asked the question: what does one do to guard against those who might be minded to make a malicious allegation? There are people who might be keen to do so, because of career jealousy or personal angst. What would be the threat against those who knew that they had done something wrong? The answer is not in the Bill. The Bill rightly ensures that information can be provided, and it could be malicious or non-malicious. If it is non-malicious, that is fine, and the allegation will be examined. Of course, as with laying information before the police, there is information that it is important to provide. If it is of the most catastrophic kind, we need to know it as soon as possible, so that the police or, in this case, the professions, can investigate. My hon. Friend's point is about the middle ground—an issue that is not specified in the Bill. That could be improved.