Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and Bereaved Persons) Bill [HL]

The purpose of the Bill is to provide support for people who have been infected with certain diseases as a result of receiving contaminated blood and blood products supplied by the NHS.

The Bill would establish a compensation package for people who have been infected, their widows, dependants and carers. It would also set up a committee to advise on the treatment of haemophilia and a review into the support available for infected people and their families.

Key areas

• All people with haemophilia who have received blood or blood products supplied by the NHS would be offered a test for hepatitis B and C, HIV, human T-lymphotropic virus, syphilis and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Their partners would also be eligible to receive the test.
  
• All blood donors would be routinely tested for these conditions.
  
• People who have been infected by contaminated blood or blood products supplied by the NHS would receive NHS compensation cards entitling them to free-of-charge prescription drugs, counselling, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and home nursing, and priority NHS treatment whenever possible.
  
• People who have been infected would be entitled to claim non-means tested financial compensation.
  
• Widows and other dependants of people who have been infected, and those who have had to give up work to care for an infected person, would also be entitled to claim compensation.
  
• A committee to advise on the treatment of haemophilia would be established. The committee would be involved in a review of the support available for people who have been infected by contaminated blood or blood products and their families.