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Hep C ex-gratia payment scheme
23/01/2004
The ex-gratia payment scheme for people infected with
Hepatitis C from NHS blood or blood products will now be
administered through a UK wide scheme, it was announced
today.
The UK scheme, to be administer by a new independent
body known as the Skipton Fund, will operate on the same
basis as the Scottish scheme announced earlier this
year.
It will award lump sum payments of £20,000 to all those
who now have Hepatitis C from blood or blood products, with
a further £25,000 being awarded when people reach a more
advanced stage of illness.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"I am pleased to have at last brought this matter to
fruition. I believe that these are fair and reasonable
payments and hope that they will help alleviate some of the
problems those who have been affected in this way are
experiencing. I also welcome the news that people who
receive awards from the scheme won't have the worry of
losing their social security benefits as a result.
"In the course of negotiations we have been able to
define a further level of detail on eligibility and scheme
administration which will be advantageous to claimants. In
particular, bureaucracy will be minimised for people making
a claim in recognition that it will be difficult for some
people to gather evidence from 20 years ago.
"The scope of the scheme has also been extended to
include people who have cleared the virus as a result of
treatment and to those infected as a result of the virus
being transmitted from someone who was infected from blood
or blood products. The scheme will also consider people who
were infected with HIV as well as Hepatitis C in the same
way as those only infected with the Hep C virus.
"We are now pressing forward with the essential work
that remains to be done in finalising the application
process for awards and setting up the independent body that
will administer the scheme. Organisations such as the
Haemophilia Society and Hepatitis C Trust will be fully
involved in that work to help ensure the procedures are as
user friendly as possible.
"Once this work is completed, we will announce the final
details of the schme and will work closely with the health
service, clinicians and voluntary groups to ensure
claimants know what to do in order to make an
application."
Scotland was the first UK administration to offer
payments when the Health Minister informed the Health and
Community Care Committee on January 29, 2003, that he was
prepared to establish an ex-gratia scheme
following publication of the preliminary report of the
Expert Group on Financial and Other Support in November
2002 -commissioned by the Executive.
The report recommended that the Executive should make ex
gratia payments to all people who could demonstrate, on the
balance of probabilities, that they received blood, blood
products or tissue from the NHS in Scotland before the
dates when they were made Hepatitis C - safe and who were
subsequently found to be infected with the virus.
As outlined by the Health Minister in January 2003, the
scheme would make lump sum payments of £20,000 to all of
those who now have Hepatitis C from blood, with a further
£25,000 when people reach a more advanced stage of illness.
At the time he made it clear that the scheme could not go
ahead until it was confirmed that the Executive had the
necessary powers under the Scotland Act. It was also
essential to ensure that the making of awards did not
result in social security benefits being withdrawn.
On August 29, 2003, the Health Minister revealed that
the Westminster government had agreed that the
establishment of a scheme in Scotland was within the powers
of the Scottish Parliament.
On the same day John Reid, Secretary of State for Health
in the Westminster government, announced that, on
compassionate grounds, he had decided to establish a
financial assistance scheme in England.
Since then discussions have been taking place between
officials of the four UK administrations to explore the
benefits and feasibility of administering the proposed
national schemes through a single UK scheme and to make the
necessary arrangements to resolve the benefit issue.
Today's announcement confirms the outcome of those
discussions.
The scheme will be uniform across the UK and will not
differentiate between people depending on the source of
their infection.
The Macfarlane Trust, which has experience and expertise
in administering similar ex gratia HIV schemes has agreed
to input into the management of the Skipton Fund.
The 'advanced stage' of illness that triggers
eligibility for the £25,000 has now been defined as when a
patient develops cirrhosis, liver cancer or if they have
received a liver transplant. A team of medical experts is
currently developing a protocol that will enable the
existence of cirrhosis to be assessed using only existing
biopsy data or the results of non-invasive tests.
Legislation affecting social security benefits,
residential care charging and housing improvement and
repair grants will be amended at the first opportunity to
ensure that people receiving payments from the scheme are
not penalised as a result.
General eligibility for payments is defined in terms of
having received blood, blood products or tissue from the
NHS in Scotland before September 1991. No payments will be
made in respect of those who have died before August 29,
2003, when the Health Minister announced that it had been
confirmed the Scottish Executive had the legal powers to
operate the scheme or to people who have cleared the virus
spontaneously.
In the case of eligible people who die between August 29
and the time when the scheme is in a position to make
payments, then the payments will be made to their
dependents.
People who have been infected with HIV through blood,
blood products or tissue on in the past, and have in
addition contracted Hepatitis C in the same way, will be
eligible for payments from the scheme in the same way as
those who have only been infected with Hepatitis C.
It will be assumed that people who have developed
Hepatitis C after being treated with Factor VIII or Factor
IX blood clotting factor concentrates were infected as a
result of that treatment. Virtually all haemophiliacs will
fall into this category.
Where people have received compensation from other
sources in connection with their infection, this will be
deducted from any award they are entitled to under the
scheme. The scheme will not reimburse legal costs incurred
in obtaining that compensation, in unsuccessfully
attempting to obtain compensation or in preparing a claim
for payment from the scheme itself.
A further announcement will be made once the position is
reached where claims can be processed through the scheme.
This will make clear exactly what claimants need to do in
order to make an application.
People in Scotland who have not already registered an
interest with the Executive, and who would like to have
information on making a claim when this becomes available,
should not contact the Macfarlane Trust but should leave
their contact details with the Executive on 0131 244
2433.