Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will now review the Department of Health's decision not to change the point at which the widow of a patient infected by hepatitis C by contaminated NHS blood products becomes eligible for financial assistance, as suggested by the independent public inquiry headed by Lord Archer of Sandwell.
Answer
I announced on 20 May (WMS 121-122), in the Government's response to Lord Archer's report, that the Skipton Fund would continue to make payments to people infected with hepatitis C. At the same time, the Government committed to review the Skipton Fund in 2014, when the fund will have been in existence for 10 years.