Hepatitis

(asked on 20th October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the basis is for the distinction between Stage 1 and Stage 2 of hepatitis C virus which determines the amount of support sufferers of the condition who contracted the virus following NHS treatment with blood products are entitled to; and what medical and expert advice his Department sought before establishing this distinction.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 27th October 2014

The decision that there should be a two-stage ex-gratia payment system was taken when the scheme was first established in 2003-04. An initial ‘stage 1’ lump sum payment was made in respect of chronic infection with hepatitis C, with a second ‘stage 2’ lump sum payment when people reached a more advanced stage of illness. The Department sought the advice of an independent group of experts regarding a medical trigger for the higher payment that could reliably be diagnosed with non-invasive tests that were available nationwide. The advice received was that the second lump sum payment should be triggered following a diagnosis of cirrhosis or liver cancer, or if a person had received a liver transplant.

In addition, as a result of the 2010 expert review, a further condition was added to those conditions that triggered eligibility for the second stage payment, namely hepatitis C-associated B-cell non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

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