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[NOTE:
The words marked in bold type were inserted by the Lords to avoid
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Establish
a committee to advise on haemophilia; to make provision in relation
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to blood donations; to establish
a scheme for NHS Compensation Cards for |
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people who have been treated
with and infected by contaminated blood or |
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blood products; to make provision
for the financial compensation of people |
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treated with and infected
by contaminated blood and blood products and |
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their widows, dependants and
carers; to establish a review of the support |
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available for people who have
been treated with and infected by contaminated |
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blood or blood products; and
for connected purposes. |
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and |
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consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
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Parliament assembled, and
by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
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Committee
to advise on treatment of haemophilia |
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(1) |
Within six months of the
passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall by |
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regulations establish a Committee
(“the Committee”) to advise on the |
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treatment of haemophilia
in the United Kingdom. |
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(2) |
The Committee shall in particular
provide advice on— |
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(a) |
the selection, procurement
and delivery of available therapies for |
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people with haemophilia and,
in particular, those treated with and |
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infected by contaminated National
Health Service (NHS) blood or |
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(b) |
the accessibility for people
with haemophilia to haemophilia |
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treatments and to treatments
for conditions which arise from |
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(c) |
the financial and other needs
of people with haemophilia; |
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(d) |
how provisions for people
treated with and infected by contaminated |
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NHS blood or blood products
compare with those in other countries. |
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(3) |
The membership of the Committee
shall include— |
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(a) |
specialist haemophilia clinicians; |
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(b) |
representatives of the Haemophilia
Society; |
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(c) |
representatives of the Department
of Health; |
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(d) |
representatives
of people with haemophilia, through nomination by |
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the Haemophilia Society and
other bodies working to support people |
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(4) |
The Secretary of State shall
consult the Committee before making substantial |
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changes in policy regarding
the treatment of people with haemophilia and |
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before introducing legislation
which affects them. |
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(5) |
If the Committee deems it
necessary, the Secretary of State shall by regulations |
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establish one or more regional
sub-committees to exercise prescribed functions |
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which fall to the Committee. |
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(1) |
The Secretary of State shall
by regulations establish a system to ensure that all |
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people with haemophilia who
have received blood or blood products under |
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the NHS, and any partners
of those people, are offered a test for the conditions |
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listed in subsection (2). |
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(c) |
human immunodeficiency virus, |
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(d) |
human T-lymphotropic virus, |
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(f) |
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease. |
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(3) |
The Secretary of State shall
also by regulations establish a system to ensure that |
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the blood supply is made
safe through the implementation of prion filtration |
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and that all blood donors
are routinely tested for the conditions listed in |
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(4) |
The Committee shall keep
under review the list of conditions in subsection (2) |
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and shall make recommendations
to the Secretary of State as to the addition or |
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removal of medical conditions
in the list as appropriate. |
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(5) |
Upon a recommendation from
the Committee as to the alteration of the list of |
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medical conditions in subsection
(2), the Secretary of State shall by regulations |
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amend the system for testing
accordingly. |
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3 |
Treatment
of people treated with and infected by contaminated NHS blood
or |
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(1) |
The Secretary of State shall
by regulations establish a scheme to issue NHS |
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Compensation Cards to all
people who have been treated with and infected by |
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contaminated blood or blood
products under the NHS. |
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(2) |
The scheme shall make provision
to allow holders of NHS Compensation |
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Cards to access the following
benefits free of charge under the NHS— |
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(d) |
occupational therapies and
other therapies allied to medicine, |
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(3) |
The
scheme shall also make provision to allow holders of NHS Compensation
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Cards to receive priority
NHS treatment whenever possible. |
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4 |
Financial
compensation for people treated with and infected by contaminated
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NHS blood or blood products |
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(1) |
The Secretary of State shall
by regulations make provisions to allow the |
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following beneficiaries to
claim for financial compensation— |
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(a) |
persons who have received
contaminated blood or blood products |
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under the NHS and contracted
any of the conditions listed in section |
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(b) |
persons who have been, or
are still, unable to work because they have |
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acted, or still act, as the
primary carer of a person within paragraph (a), |
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(c) |
widows and other dependants
of a person within paragraph (a). |
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(2) |
The regulations shall ensure
that payment of the compensation will— |
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(a) |
take the form of an initial
capital sum, followed by prescribed |
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(b) |
be paid directly to the beneficiary,
rather than through a separate trust |
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(d) |
not be dependent upon the
initial reason for which the person was first |
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given contaminated NHS blood
or blood products, |
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(e) |
not be dependent on the age
of the person when contaminated NHS |
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blood or blood products were
given, |
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(f) |
not be dependent on when
an infected person received contaminated |
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NHS blood or blood products, |
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(g) |
in the case of a carer, widow
or dependant, and where the person being |
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cared for has subsequently
died, not be dependent on the date of death |
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(h) |
not affect the calculation
of any other benefits to which the beneficiary |
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(3) |
The regulations shall also
make provisions to ensure that where the beneficiary |
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is a child, the compensation
will be paid to a parent or guardian of that child. |
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(4) |
When making the regulations
the Secretary of State shall have regard to any |
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comparable compensation schemes
offered in other countries. |
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(5) |
The Secretary of State shall
establish an appeal mechanism for those persons |
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whose claims for compensation
made pursuant to subsection (1) are rejected. |
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(1) |
Within six months of the
passing of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, in |
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conjunction with the Committee,
establish a review into— |
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(a) |
the conditions under which
widows and other dependants of people |
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who have been treated with
and infected by contaminated NHS blood |
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or blood products, and subsequently
died, become eligible for benefits; |
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(b) |
the provision of medical
insurance for people who have been treated |
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with and infected by contaminated
NHS blood or blood products; |
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(c) |
the
number of people who may have unknowingly been treated with |
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and infected by contaminated
NHS blood products, and the way in |
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which these people could be
informed and supported; |
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(d) |
the amount and sources of
funding for charities which support people |
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(2) |
Within one year of the passing
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall lay a |
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report before Parliament
setting out the findings and recommendations of the |
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Regulations,
short title, commencement and extent |
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(1) |
Regulations made by the
Secretary of State under this Act are to be made by |
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(2) |
A statutory instrument which
contains any regulations made under this Act is |
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subject to annulment in pursuance
of a resolution of either House of |
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Parliament, unless it is
an instrument to which subsection (3) applies. |
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(3) |
A statutory instrument which
contains, whether alone or with other |
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provisions, any regulations
made under section 2(5)
or 4
may not be made |
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unless a draft of the instrument
has been laid before, and approved by a |
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resolution of, each House
of Parliament. |
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(4) |
This Act may be cited as
the Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and |
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Bereaved Persons) Act 2010. |
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(5) |
This Act shall come into
force on the day on which it is passed. |
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(6) |
This Act extends to England
and Wales only. |
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(7) |
Nothing
in this Act shall impose any charge on the people or on public
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funds,
or vary the amount or incidence of or otherwise alter any such
charge |
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in
any manner, or affect the assessment, levying, administration
or |
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application
of any money raised by any such charge. |
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