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.
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.