Hepatitis C (Haemophiliacs)

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2013 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dobbin. I apologise on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Mr Reed), who was scheduled to respond for the Opposition. Sadly, St Jude’s storm meant that he was stuck in the wilds of Cumbria yesterday and was unable to travel down in time for this morning’s debate.

I echo the thanks given to my right hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins) for securing this debate on an extremely sobering and important issue that has affected many people across the country. I also welcome the new public health Minister to her post, and I wish her the best of luck.

This has been a powerful debate, with many moving contributions from Members on both sides of the House. I thank right hon. and hon. Members for contributing, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East, my hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) and for Hammersmith (Mr Slaughter), and the hon. Members for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey) and for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi).

We must remember that 4,500 patients contracted HIV or hepatitis C due to one of the gravest failures in modern medicine. That failure hit innocent and trusting people, and, to date, it has claimed thousands of lives. Members from both sides of the House will be well aware of how the rowdier moments in the House of Commons are perceived by our constituents, but I believe that debates such as this, conducted with great dignity while addressing serious failures and harrowing accounts, are a credit to the institution of Parliament, and I look forward to working with the Minister to help reach a speedy and satisfactory outcome for those who are campaigning for support to maintain a good quality of life.

The failures in our health system in the 1970s and 1980s, and the struggle for help and support fought by those affected, are a stark reminder of our responsibilities in this place. As we have heard today, progress has been painfully slow—that point was eloquently and powerfully put by the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire. The previous Government and the devolved Administrations established the Skipton Fund in 2004 to make ex gratia payments to those who were infected.

In May 2009, Lord Archer published a report on NHS-supplied contaminated blood and blood products. We implemented many of his recommendations, including giving the Haemophilia Society £100,000 for haemophilia doctors and committing to phasing out prescription charges for patients with long-term conditions.

In April 2010, the then public health Minister, Gillian Merron, decided to bring forward a review of the Skipton Fund—we had previously committed to reviewing the fund in 2014. Announcing that decision, she said:

“We have listened carefully to the views of those infected, their families, carers and many in this House, who have told us that our intended review date of 2014 will be too late for many of those affected.”—[Official Report, 6 April 2010; Vol. 508, c. 133-134WS.]

I welcome this Government’s work in continuing to build on the foundations laid by the previous Government. The issue must transcend party politics. Our focus from now on must be on what we can do to support those who bear financial burdens as a result of contracting hepatitis C or HIV.

I hope that the Minister is able to give us a comprehensive account of what the Government are doing to build on the actions set out by the Leader of the House when he was Secretary of State for Health in his statement to the House on 10 January 2011. He announced changes to the financial support schemes for those infected with HIV and hepatitis C, including the introduction of an annual payment of £12,800 for those with the most serious hepatitis C-related disease as a result of NHS blood transfusions and blood products, in line with payments received by people infected with HIV. Those groups need Government support more than ever, and I want the Minister to give assurances that work on this issue will not be undermined by budget reductions.

I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and suffering inflicted on the victims who received infected blood. To those who relied on receiving blood regularly as part of their treatment for haemophilia, only to have a life-changing diagnosis thrust on them; to those still facing daily challenges; and to the dependents of those who are, sadly, no longer with us, we owe help, support and justice.

I pay tribute to the work done by the many campaigners and organisations across the country, which is a credit to the tireless efforts of those affected and their families. Their efforts could have been no better espoused than by my right hon. Friend, who set out the experiences of his constituents. It is right that such people are exempt from the Atos processes, and my right hon. Friend’s points about the financial burdens that such things put on families were extremely timely. Changes to qualifying criteria for a range of illness-related benefits will unnerve those who depend on such income to make ends meet. I am sure that the Minister will welcome this opportunity categorically to state that the Government will protect payments to those who have been affected. Leaving aside the health issues caused by the transmission of infections, the stress brought on by worrying about bills and security can have an extremely damaging impact on the lives of those concerned.

On top of dealing with financial concerns, we must provide a health care system that makes it as easy as possible for people with hepatitis C to use the services they need to maintain a good quality of life. I therefore hope that the Minister can give us an indication of the reforms that are being made to support patients.

My right hon. Friend’s proposal to unite stage 1 and stage 2 under one fund warrants serious consideration, and I would welcome a pledge from the Minister seriously to look at it and to try to bring it about. My right hon. Friend was also right when he said that the Government must take any action in conjunction with those who have been affected.

As I said, this is not a debate for political point scoring, and I assure the Minister that the Opposition want to see swift action to ensure a good outcome for those affected—something eloquently pledged by my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), the shadow Secretary of State for Health, in an intervention earlier. We will therefore be happy to work with the Government to introduce proposals finally to achieve a good and proper conclusion for those affected and their families and, I hope, to draw a line under one of the darkest failings seen in our country.