Infected Blood Inquiry: Additional Report
Baroness D'Souza Excerpts(3 days, 13 hours ago)
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Baroness D’Souza (CB)
My Lords, the Minister has laid some emphasis on getting it right, but I wonder whether she could—
Baroness Featherstone (LD)
That is all right; I just was insistent.
Many noble Lords already know, but I have to declare an interest, sadly, because one of my sister’s twin boys, who was a haemophiliac, contracted hepatitis C and died aged 35, leaving a 10 month-old daughter.
I welcome the changes made consequent on Sir Brian’s report, particularly that the estate of the affected will now receive compensation even if the affected person dies. But I am concerned that the Government have not changed the date that the affected can register, because so many people had children who were affected and 40 to 50 years on, those parents are in their 80s and many of them have died already. Being able to register now would not only give peace of mind to the affected individual but would give the Government a better idea of the size of that cohort. Therefore, my question to the Minister is: what will happen if an affected person dies between now and their ability to register? Will their estate still receive the compensation, or will they never receive justice because they could not register?