Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recommendations in the Infected Blood Inquiry report, what assessment they have made of the safety and efficacy of modern plasma-derived therapies.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, including recommendation 9 that relates to the use of alternatives to plasma-derived medicines. We will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making by the end of the year, as the Inquiry recommends.

In April 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reviewed the latest scientific evidence available on the safety of donor plasma from the United Kingdom and was able to lift the ban on its use for immunoglobulin-based medicines; the ban had been in place since the mid-1990s due to concerns about over the potential spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease. This was followed by a review of and lifting of the ban on albumins, also derived from UK donor plasma.

Both immunoglobulin and albumin are critical medicines for the National Health Service, with approximately 17,000 patients in England relying on immunoglobulins each year but these products are in short supply globally. Following the MHRA view that UK plasma is safe, the Department set up the Plasma for Medicines programme to increase our self-sufficiency and to protect vulnerable patients from the risk of global supply shocks. The first UK donor plasma was shipped for manufacture into medicines in August 2024 and these will be available to NHS patients from January 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to implement recommendation 9(e) of the Infected Blood Inquiry report while maintaining consistency with existing NHS England commissioning guidelines, continuing to improve standards of care and quality of life, and promoting confidence in the safety and efficacy of all licensed medicines for people with rare bleeding disorders.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they interpret the phrase "where clinically appropriate" in recommendation 9(e) of the Infected Blood Inquiry report, and how this will preserve patient choice and clinical judgement based on the latest clinical evidence.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the recommendations in the Infected Blood Inquiry report for the MHRA as regulator of medicines in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.

Found: Letter dated 25/10/2024 from Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede to Baroness Brinton and Earl Howe regarding points

Found: Letter dated 25/10/2024 from Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede to Baroness Brinton and Earl Howe regarding the