Extracts from Wales Assembly Business Statement - Jun 11

Wednesday, 12 June 2019 08:25

Dai Lloyd AM: Trefnydd—and I speak now as a Member of the cross-party group on haemophilia and contaminated blood—the issues faced by those people infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal of the 1970s and 1980s is something, obviously, that we've given previous attention to in this Chamber, practically every year since 2001, I think. But, recent events, I believe, mean that we need to...Request free trial

Dai Lloyd AM: Trefnydd—and I speak now as a Member of the cross-party group on haemophilia and contaminated blood—the issues faced by those people infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal of the 1970s and 1980s is something, obviously, that we've given previous attention to in this Chamber, practically every year since 2001, I think. But, recent events, I believe, mean that we need to revisit this matter. You will be aware that the public inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, has started its work, but there are issues that are specific to Wales that the Welsh Government needs to address.

In April, the UK Government announced that it was increasing the funding given to infected patients in England only by an additional £10,000 a year, but this did not apply to patients in Wales. Clearly, it cannot be right that patients in Wales receive less funding than patients in other nations of the UK, when the situation is a result of a scandal under the direct control of the then UK Governments in pre-devolution days. It is incumbent on the UK Government to fund this in every nation within the UK. It is absolutely disgraceful that this has not happened.

Therefore, would the Welsh Government be prepared to bring forward a statement on the contaminated blood scandal that would include details of the discussions and meeting being held with the UK Government on this matter nowadays, the financial discussions taking place around the Barnett consequential now, and how the Welsh Government is going to provide parity of infected blood support in Wales?

Rebecca Evans AM: I thank the Member for raising this issue, and I completely agree with his assessment of the situation. Of course, Dai Lloyd did refer to the announcement made on 30 April by the then Prime Minister, and that was a completely unexpected statement. The Welsh Government was unsighted on the details despite previous UK Government Ministers' agreements to a four-nation approach.

The uplift announced for those infected and affected on the English infected blood scheme will not have any consequential uplift for the devolved administrations, we are told, but we remain committed to working across the UK to ensure parity of the schemes. Officials will continue to work with their counterparts to achieve this.

Members will recall that, in March, the health Minister announced additional support for those with hepatitis C and/or HIV via contaminated blood or blood products. The significant impact of such infections on many individuals' lives has been debated in this Assembly Chamber, but I'll certainly ask the health Minister to provide you with the most recent discussions that have been had on this important issue.