Hepatitis C (Haemophiliacs)

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Paul Goggins

Tuesday 29th October 2013 Westminster Hall

[Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)]

I am grateful to have the opportunity once again to draw the attention of the House and of Ministers to the injustice that still faces those who in the 1970s and 1980s became infected as a result of treatment with contaminated blood products.

Let me say at the outset that, although I seek in this debate to highlight the particular issues and concerns of those with haemophilia who were infected with hepatitis C, I recognise, of course, that the issues affect others beyond that group. Many haemophiliacs received other infections, HIV in particular, and some were dual-infected with HIV and hepatitis C. Others were multi-infected by the range of other viruses to which they were exposed. Some haemophiliacs were treated with blood taken from donors who later died from CJD. Others did not have haemophilia, but were none the less infected as a result of their NHS treatment. I am sure that some who contribute to the debate later will refer to the experience of those who have been affected in those other ways, and a number of points I will make will have a broader relevance to those people’s situations.

The reason that I selected financial support for people with haemophilia infected with hepatitis C as a topic for debate is simple: it reflects the specific concerns of three of my constituents with whom I have been campaigning on the issue for 16 years. They are Peter Mossman, Fred Bates and Eleanor Bates, who is Fred’s wife. I pay tribute to their determination and the single-minded way in which they have worked with other members of the haemophilia community in pursuit of justice and truth.

I am delighted that you, Mr Dobbin, will oversee our proceedings this morning, although given your keen interest in the topic, I suspect that a bit of you would like to participate.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing the debate, which is one of many over the years. Does he, like me, think and hope that the Minister will give positive answers this morning, given the many debates in the past, so that the people affected can experience justice?

[Paul Goggins]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. He makes precisely the point I was moving on to. I welcome the new Minister, the hon. Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison), to the debate and to her new responsibilities. Whatever else she achieves in her time as a Minister—and I hope she achieves a great deal—nothing would be more important than bringing a measure of justice to those who have suffered from such injustice over so many years. Lord Winston described it as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.

I am delighted that we are joined this morning by so many hon. Members from both sides of the House—particularly the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), who raised the issue again with the Prime Minister in a clear and determined way a few days ago. I am also pleased that my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) is in attendance for the start of the debate. It is unusual for a Secretary of State, or shadow Secretary of State, to attend an Adjournment debate in Westminster Hall. His attendance is appreciated; he is keeping a promise made earlier this year. My constituents have asked me to thank him this morning for his willingness to listen—not only now in opposition, but when he was the Secretary of State.