Health Bill [HL]

I welcome and support this excellent amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Morris. It is late, so I will attempt to get my words out quickly. The noble Lord, Lord Morris, has been a vigilant campaigner on behalf of people with haemophilia, especially those affected by contaminated blood products. He is to be applauded for calling the independent public inquiry, chaired by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Archer, which reported last month. I declare an interest: my first husband, Graham Ingleson, and his brother, Anthony, died as a result of receiving contaminated factor VIII blood products. Graham was 34 years old when he died and, at the same age, I became a widow. The scandalously slow reaction by previous Governments to safeguard blood products imported from the United States meant that we failed to protect nearly 5,000 people who died or are now living with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C or, now, CJD. The amendment proposes establishing a committee that will go some way to righting a great wrong which was done to those people. It is not a big initiative—it is just a committee—which would be a small, uncostly affair. The committee would not only improve the care of those who have suffered from the blood scandal, it would also help thousands of people with haemophilia who, with the right treatment, could lead long and active lives, working and building families. They are great when they have their treatment. You would not even know that they have a disability. Finally, as I have often said in the past, those with the most expertise of long-term conditions are those who experience them. I welcome, under subsection (3) of the proposed new clause, the holistic spread of the proposed commissioners; namely, charity supporters, Department of Health officials and, most importantly, the patients. Every year on the anniversary of my husband’s death, I visit the church of St Botolph without Bishopsgate in the City of London. At the back of the church is a small memorial book, which names those haemophiliacs who have died as a result of contaminated blood products. Every year, new names appear. Every year, haemophiliacs living with the consequences of lethal treatment—it was lethal treatment—require the very best information, advice and support. The proposed committee could provide that help. The Government have this opportunity to show that they recognise the extraordinary plight of haemophiliacs and I hope that they, and Members of the Committee, will feel able to support this amendment.