1 Committee to advise on treatment of haemophilia

(1) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall by
regulations establish a Committee (“the Committee”) to advise on the
treatment of haemophilia in the United Kingdom.

(2) 5The Committee shall in particular provide advice on—

(a) the selection, procurement and delivery of available therapies for
people with haemophilia and, in particular, those treated with and
infected by contaminated National Health Service (NHS) blood or
blood products;

(b) 10the accessibility for people with haemophilia to haemophilia
treatments and to treatments for conditions which arise from
haemophilia treatment;

(c) the financial and other needs of people with haemophilia;

(d) how provisions for people treated with and infected by contaminated
15NHS blood or blood products compare with those in other countries.

(3) The membership of the Committee shall include—

(a) specialist haemophilia clinicians;

(b) representatives of the Haemophilia Society;

(c) representatives of the Department of Health;

(d) representatives of people with haemophilia, through nomination by
the Haemophilia Society and other bodies working to support people
with haemophilia.

(4) The Secretary of State shall consult the Committee before making substantial
5changes in policy regarding the treatment of people with haemophilia and
before introducing legislation which affects them.

(5) If the Committee deems it necessary, the Secretary of State shall by regulations
establish one or more regional sub-committees to exercise prescribed functions
which fall to the Committee.

2 10Blood donations

(1) The Secretary of State shall by regulations establish a system to ensure that all
people with haemophilia who have received blood or blood products under
the NHS, and any partners of those people, are offered a test for the conditions
listed in subsection (2).

(2) 15The conditions are—

(a) hepatitis B,

(b) hepatitis C,

(c) human immunodeficiency virus,

(d) human T-lymphotropic virus,

(e) 20syphilis, and

(f) variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

(3) The Secretary of State shall also by regulations establish a system to ensure that
the blood supply is made safe through the implementation of prion filtration
and that all blood donors are routinely tested for the conditions listed in
25subsection (2).

(4) The Committee shall keep under review the list of conditions in subsection (2)
and shall make recommendations to the Secretary of State as to the addition or
removal of medical conditions in the list as appropriate.

(5) Upon a recommendation from the Committee as to the alteration of the list of
30medical conditions in subsection (2), the Secretary of State shall by regulations
amend the system for testing accordingly.

3 Treatment of people treated with and infected by contaminated NHS blood or
blood products

(1) The Secretary of State shall by regulations establish a scheme to issue NHS
35Compensation Cards to all people who have been treated with and infected by
contaminated blood or blood products under the NHS.

(2) The scheme shall make provision to allow holders of NHS Compensation
Cards to access the following benefits free of charge under the NHS—

(a) prescription drugs,

(b) 40counselling,

(c) physiotherapy,

(d) occupational therapies and other therapies allied to medicine,

(e) home nursing.

(3) The scheme shall also make provision to allow holders of NHS Compensation
Cards to receive priority NHS treatment whenever possible.

4 Financial compensation for people treated with and infected by contaminated
NHS blood or blood products

(1) 5The Secretary of State shall by regulations make provisions to allow the
following beneficiaries to claim for financial compensation—

(a) persons who have received contaminated blood or blood products
under the NHS and contracted any of the conditions listed in section
2(2) as a consequence,

(b) 10persons who have been, or are still, unable to work because they have
acted, or still act, as the primary carer of a person within paragraph (a),
and

(c) widows and other dependants of a person within paragraph (a).

(2) The regulations shall ensure that payment of the compensation will—

(a) 15take the form of an initial capital sum, followed by prescribed
periodical payments,

(b) be paid directly to the beneficiary, rather than through a separate trust
or fund,

(c) not be means-tested,

(d) 20not be dependent upon the initial reason for which the person was first
given contaminated NHS blood or blood products,

(e) not be dependent on the age of the person when contaminated NHS
blood or blood products were given,

(f) not be dependent on when an infected person received contaminated
25NHS blood or blood products,

(g) in the case of a carer, widow or dependant, and where the person being
cared for has subsequently died, not be dependent on the date of death
of that person,

(h) not affect the calculation of any other benefits to which the beneficiary
30is entitled.

(3) The regulations shall also make provisions to ensure that where the beneficiary
is a child, the compensation will be paid to a parent or guardian of that child.

(4) When making the regulations the Secretary of State shall have regard to any
comparable compensation schemes offered in other countries.

(5) 35The Secretary of State shall establish an appeal mechanism for those persons
whose claims for compensation made pursuant to subsection (1) are rejected.

5 Review

(1) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, in
conjunction with the Committee, establish a review into—

(a) 40the conditions under which widows and other dependants of people
who have been treated with and infected by contaminated NHS blood
or blood products, and subsequently died, become eligible for benefits;

(b) the provision of medical insurance for people who have been treated
with and infected by contaminated NHS blood or blood products;

(c) the number of people who may have unknowingly been treated with
and infected by contaminated NHS blood products, and the way in
which these people could be informed and supported;

(d) the amount and sources of funding for charities which support people
5with haemophilia.

(2) Within one year of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall lay a
report before Parliament setting out the findings and recommendations of the
review.

6 Regulations, short title, commencement and extent

(1) 10Regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act are to be made by
statutory instrument.

(2) A statutory instrument which contains any regulations made under this Act is
subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of
Parliament, unless it is an instrument to which subsection (3) applies.

(3) 15A statutory instrument which contains, whether alone or with other
provisions, any regulations made under section 2(5) or 4 may not be made
unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a
resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(4) This Act may be cited as the Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and
20Bereaved Persons) Act 2012.

(5) This Act shall come into force on the day on which it is passed.

(6) This Act extends to England and Wales only.