Clinical Negligence Claims

Lord Walney Excerpts

Wednesday 10th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I call the noble Lord, Lord Walney. He is not present. I call—

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Yes I am.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

I am sorry.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

Thank you. I accept entirely what the Minister says about learning from experience but was this not supposed to have been baked into the NHS after numerous reports in recent years? Does he accept that we need to look again at the way in which the NHS trusts are often slow in learning from their mistakes, rather than allowing this culture to continue?

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I completely agree with the sentiments behind the question. It is important that at all stages we bake in a culture of openness in the NHS so it can no longer hide behind the fact that we are full of praise for it when it does things well. However, when things go wrong, I am afraid that it shuts up shop and hides behind various techniques. It is important that we are as open as possible in trying to make sure we tackle some of the problems and learn in the future.