NHS Redress - Should it be a Countrywide Policy?
NHS Redress is a piece of legislation that is due to implemented in Wales in September 2010. Effectively, it is a new way of dealing with complaints made by patients who believe they have suffered illness or injury as the direct result of the negligence of healthcare professionals. However, with just six months to go before it becomes a legal statute, there are concerns being raised of its validity as an impartial method of problem solving.
The Redress system hinges on the idea that the NHS should do as much as it can to put right mistakes and to learn lessons to prevent those mistakes ever happening again. Effectively, it is an internal complaints system with a no-blame notion at its heart. It offers claimants the potential to be compensated swiftly and without having to endure the often protracted and expensive procedures operated by the legal system. The Welsh Assembly Government has said, “We feel that this can be done by improving the arrangements already in place to support all staff to be open with people when something has gone wrong and by developing further the skills and experience of staff who will investigate concerns. We also think that by giving health organisations the tools and techniques they need to carry out better investigations, the more people will be satisfied.”
However, arguments against Redress base themselves around impartiality. The former chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Wales, Dr. Tony Calland supports the idea in theory, but worries about the lack of an independent body. “I think everyone supports the principle of a system where people who have suffered some kind of aggravation have a legitimate complaint dealt with properly and those who have been damaged in any way get quick redress,” he said. “But one of the biggest issues for the BMA is that the people who will be investigating the complaints will be the health boards - we’re looking at a complaint against a health board being investigated by that health board which, in my book, flags up a conflict of interest.”
The Welsh Assembly arranged a consultation with a number of patients to gain insight into the public’s perception of such an idea. One patient from Bridgend said, “I am concerned that overall responsibility for the effective ‘day to day operations of the arrangements for dealing with concerns in an integrated manner’ will be given to an executive director in the case of an NHS body and the chief executive in the case of organisations.”
It seems that, while the proposal itself is sound enough in theory, the practicalities of this legislation are starting show up its pitfalls. While its main aim is to provide claimants with reassurance and consistency in the way that claims are handled, is it possible that a self-regulating health system will turn its back on claims it feels have no basis? With only six months before its introduction, the BMA need to pay close attention to its effectiveness, before deciding whether or not to introduce the NHS Redress system into England.
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