Infected Blood Inquiry: Government Response

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

Like many hon. Members present, I have a number of constituents who were infected with HIV or hepatitis C through the scandal and several have lost family members. I want to echo what some of them are feeling. One of my constituents described her parent’s diagnosis with HIV due to infected blood as

“a catalogue of soul destroying, humiliating neglect and ultimately alienating experiences”

and told me that it is now 30 years since her parent died,

“and the intense sense of loss and pain remains profound and is felt every single day.”

People infected and affected need tangible action now to help to alleviate that suffering. The question the Minister has to answer is when he will establish a full compensation body and when that will become operational.

[John Glen]

I am obviously going to have to repeat myself several times. I have set out clearly what is new today: the psychological support and the appointment of the necessary expert, in a matter of days, to take forward the work needed to get to the point where a comprehensive response can happen. We have committed to when the timetable will happen with respect to the final inquiry, and we are doing everything we can to reach that. While I recognise that that is a matter of three or four months further down the road, I am trying to make sure that, when the response comes, it is as comprehensive as it possibly can be, addressing all the dimensions of the misery that the hon. Lady movingly spoke about.