Contaminated Blood Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Baroness Keeley
Main Page: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Keeley's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(9 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Ben Gummer
NHS England has just announced a major package in respect of the drugs my hon. Friend mentions. I will ensure that my hon. Friend the Life Sciences Minister writes to her with further details.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
May I add my thanks to those already given to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) and add to her comments about the pressing need for a settlement? I recently learned of a constituent who contracted hepatitis C in the 1980s. The reality of his life is that the drug treatment he needs is not funded, although it is available in Scotland. He is looking at paying out £35,000 for a 12-week course of treatment and cannot get life insurance for mortgage purposes. He also talks about the stress and discomfort of the treatment he has tried. His life is on hold. This is a pressing matter. What can we offer him?
Ben Gummer
The hon. Lady is right to highlight that for some people this has been a fact of life for 30 years or more. Within a year of the publication of the Penrose report, we hope to provide a scheme that settles the concerns of many sufferers. That is a fast pace at which to move given the complexity of what is required, the five schemes already in existence and the many hundreds and thousands of voices that need to be heard in the short consultation we plan to hold.