House of Commons
Friday 3 March 2000
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot): On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I am sure that you, like all of us, will have seen on television the terrible humanitarian tragedy that is currently occurring in Mozambique. Perhaps you have seen the amazing pictures of the bravery and courage of the South African helicopter pilots, who have rescued an enormous number of people with only three helicopters. On the radio this morning, the Secretary of State for International Development suggested that there was a dispute between two Departments about the deployment of United Kingdom helicopters to that part of the world. People will have been appalled to hear that the dispatch of helicopters has been delayed as a result of such a dispute.
Given the gravity of the humanitarian crisis, have you, Madam Speaker, had any intimation from the Prime Minister to the effect that he wishes to make a statement in the House about the United Kingdom Government's response, and to explain the failure to act more swiftly?
Madam Speaker:
At this juncture, I have not been informed that the Prime Minister or any Minister wants to make a statement on that matter.
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst):
Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. Can you help the House by telling us the latest point at which a Minister--in this case, the Secretary of State for Defence or the Secretary of State for International Development--can approach you to ask to make a statement? It would help the House if we knew the deadline for Ministers to approach you.
Madam Speaker:
Ministers are free to make statements in the House at prescribed times. However, on a Friday, I am usually informed at around 10 o'clock whether a statement is to be made, and it is usually made at 11 o'clock.
Orders of the Day
BILL PRESENTED
Countryside and Rights of Way
Mr. Secretary Prescott presented a Bill to make new provision for public access to the countryside; to amend the law relating to public rights of way; to enable traffic regulation orders to be made for the purpose of conserving an area's natural beauty; to make provision with respect to the driving of mechanically propelled vehicles elsewhere than on roads; to amend the law relating to nature conservation and the protection of wildlife; and for connected purposes: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Monday next, and to be printed [Bill 78].
Order for Second Reading read.
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith (Wealden):
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
The Bill is designed to amend the provisions of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 that apply to the ombudsman's powers to investigate complaints against doctors and other health service providers such as pharmacists, dentists and ophthalmic surgeons. The Bill is therefore not confined to one section of the medical profession.
I am grateful for the cross-party support that the Bill has attracted. I should like to thank the sponsors in particular; they also span the political divide. It is worth mentioning some of the sponsors by name because they have persistently shown a great interest in health matters. Some of them not only take an interest in health in the House but are registered medical practitioners. They include: my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess), who is a member of the Select Committee on Health, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Dr. Brand), who is the Liberal Democrat spokesman on health, and also serves on the Health Committee, the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe), who chairs the Select Committee and the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Singh), who is a former hospital manager. The sponsors include two doctors. I am grateful to them for sparing their time.
The purpose of the Bill is to close a loophole in the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, which allows general practitioners and others involved in health matters to retire to avoid investigation by the health service ombudsman. For example, GPs who are worried about being investigated by the ombudsman can simply retire from the national health service to avoid answering for their actions. That is all the more worrying because GPs who officially retire from the national health service can avoid investigation and continue to practise as locums or in private practice even though a complaint which calls into question their professional conduct and ability remains unresolved.
If the Bill makes the statute book, it will bring GPs and other health professionals into line with hospital doctors. In his annual report for 1998-99, the health service
commissioner, Mr. Michael Buckley, drew attention to the need to tackle the matter that the Bill covers. I am especially grateful to the Consumers Association for bringing the ombudsman's recommendation to my attention and for its help in preparing the Bill.
Although the Bill will affect only a few individuals each year, it will tackle a basic injustice. We have recently witnessed action by the Home Office to consider sanctions against retired police officers following the Macpherson inquiry in the Stephen Lawrence case. The Bill will introduce similar provisions to protect patients.
It is important that patients are reassured that the laws governing health services professionals are primarily designed to protect them. As well as protecting patients, the Bill would support thousands of honest and reputable doctors who tirelessly serve our communities, and would ensure, too, that the minority of doctors who should not be practising do not tarnish the reputation of exemplary doctors. It is in no way a witch hunt.
The Consumers Association has campaigned for several years for a robust system of redress in health care. I was made aware of it about a year ago when I read a report in Which? magazine--I am a subscriber--of the case of Mr. Peter Smith, whose wife had died of leukaemia, a condition that her doctor had overlooked. Mr. Smith took his complaint to the health service ombudsman, who agreed to investigate. Unfortunately for Mr. Smith, the general practitioner in question retired and the investigation was abandoned. He will never know if his complaint would have been upheld. Neither will Yvonne Fisher.
In February 1998, Mrs. Fisher called a doctor after finding her 83-year-old mother, Mrs. Valles, ill at home. The practice said that none was available. Later that afternoon, her mother's condition deteriorated and she collapsed. Mrs. Fisher left her with neighbours, drove to the practice and asked that a doctor attend to her mother urgently. Finally, a doctor visited and examined Mrs. Valles. He said that she had suffered a slight stroke and was unconcerned by Mrs. Fisher's pleadings that her mother had not eaten or drunk anything, could not walk unaided and was very weak. The doctor merely commented that that was usual with strokes.
The doctor then told Mrs. Fisher that her mother ought to be moved to a nursing home as she would never be able to look after herself again. In the meantime, he insisted that Mrs. Valles should not be on her own and that she was fit enough to embark on the two-hour journey to her daughter's home. Mrs. Fisher reluctantly put her mother in her car and drove home. On arrival, Mrs. Valles collapsed. An ambulance was called, which took her mother to a local hospital. She died shortly after arrival.
Mrs. Fisher was so incensed at the treatment that she and her mother had received that she decided to complain. She took the complaint to the West Surrey health authority, which refused to hold an independent review. That led Mrs. Fisher to contact the health service ombudsman for England, who agreed that there was a case and started an investigation. I emphasise that the complaint went to the ombudsman for England, because his remit does not run to Scotland. If the Bill meets with the House's approval, we shall have to consider what action can be taken in respect of the Scottish Parliament.
Mrs. Fisher was relieved to discover that the ombudsman was to investigate her case, only to have her hopes of justice dashed when she was informed that the doctor had decided to retire and that the case therefore had to be dropped. She decided to go public because she cannot believe that doctors can avoid investigation in that way. She hopes that the Bill will be made law so that in future people will be able to see that an investigation has been properly conducted and completed.
The Bill is supported by many notable organisations, including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Mr. Michael Buckley, the ombudsman, fully supports it and has called on the Government to take up the issue. Although this amendment to the 1993 Act would benefit only a few individuals, their plight must not be ignored. They deserve justice in the same way as any other person who put his faith in a system only for that system to fail him.
I hope that hon. Members on both sides of the House agree that the Bill represents an important first step to safeguarding patients' interests. I want it to succeed, which is why I propose only a modest change in the ombudsman's powers. No doubt the Government will wish to consider other changes in his powers and those of the General Medical Council that would improve redress in health. One could be the extension of the ombudsman's remit to the private sector, and there are others, one of which was pointed out by the Consumers Association. It published the results of its investigation into the GMC's procedures for dealing with complaints, which uncovered a system that any objective person would have to conclude could be improved. The Consumers Association has also called for the proportion of lay to medical members on the GMC to be increased to reduce the existing imbalance in some of the procedures and to drive forward reform.
9.35 am
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