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Thalidomide Survivors

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the way in which he put his question. I, too, remember the debate initiated by my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Charlotte Atkins), and the meetings that I had, both before and afterwards, with some of the thalidomiders and their families made a profound impression on me. T he hon. Gentleman is right to say that we need to find ways to resolve much more quickly the wider issues in relation to negligence claims against the NHS. I have had experience of this with a constituent of mine, because we have been trying for some years to get a payment from the NHS for a negligence case. The distress and trauma caused by the delay in making the payment were very unhelpful, and we need to find ways to resolve these issues much more quickly. Sometimes lawyers come in for a lot of criticism, but on this occasion the departmental lawyers were very helpful in trying to resolve some of the issues in terms of making this payment. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that lawyers were advising Ministers over a long period of time that words had to be used with care because they carry weight and that caution had to be exercised in admitting liability. However, there are ways of saying things and of ensuring that the intentions and the thrust of what the Government want to convey are put across in a way that carries weight and deals with some of the legal issues. Department of Health lawyers were helpful in doing that. May I, too, add my thanks to the lawyers who represent the national advisory council, who were brilliantly helpful in ensuring that we were able to resolve these matters satisfactorily?