May I congratulate Helen Mary Jones for taking the lead on this? I fully support her intentions. There’s no doubt that systems in the health service are under a huge strain—not enough staff, not enough resources, not enough beds, and nurses and doctors being extended to the very limits to provide an acceptable service most of the time, an excellent service often, but on occasion, the quality of the service does fall short and mistakes can happen, almost inevitably, in a system under such strain.

There are a few points that need to be made. The duty of candour is challenged when lawyers become involved, and even apologising under such circumstances can be interpreted as an admission of fault, and the honesty of the nurse or doctor then will take them to a court of law. And when a nurse or a doctor does decide to speak up to highlight some weakness in the system, then they should be truly protected. Very often, as a whistleblower, they will be persecuted by managers, and will face criticism from colleagues, and they may even be suspended from work or see their careers ended for raising those concerns. The expert who blew the whistle on the deaths of babies in Bristol in the heart operation scandal over 20 years ago—ultimately, that specialist had to move to Australia in order to find work and to continue with his career, just for being a whistleblower.

And the second point: we need to recognise failings in the system that can lead to individual mistakes when doctors and nurses have to do more than one crucial thing at the same time because of pressures of work—not always the doctor or the nurse being persecuted, but looking at the responsibilities of managers too, as Helen Mary has stated, because everybody has a responsibility here. Everyone—doctors, nurses and managers—should be treated the same. They should be registered by their professional bodies, and they should face being struck off and going into to a court of law to face very serious charges where necessary. That’s what faces every doctor and every nurse now; that is what responsibility for patient looks like. Managers should face the same.

Ultimately, we need a no-fault compensation system as a nation when things do go wrong, or some unexpected event happens to a patient. This happens in a number of other countries because a patient doesn’t necessarily have to access an expensive lawyer, the patient wouldn’t require a court of law, and wouldn’t need to prove blame, because, on occasion, it’s a sheer case of being unlucky—there is no-one to blame. No-blame compensation takes away many of the costs, and all of the compensation goes to the patient. Support the motion.