Haemophilia Scotland, along with other patient organisations and campaign groups, have received an invitation to attend an engagement meeting on 18 June with Sir Robert Francis, Interim Chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. Interim Chief Executive David Foley and Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery, the Chair of the Cabinet Office appointed Expert Group will also be in attendance.
The purpose of these meetings is stated as to hear what the community has to say on the compensation scheme before its terms are set out in Regulations. The following five themes are proposed for discussion by Sir Robert within his invitation:
- Future of the current Support Scheme payments
- Severity Bands which will be used as a basis for financial entitlement. Can these be verified through an objective assessment of readily available evidence?
- Assessment of Care and Financial Loss Awards. Do these cover the majority of cases as intended.
- Evidence Requirements – what evidence should be required to prove eligibility
- Equalities Impacts – are any groups by reason of age, disability, gender realignment, marriage or civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation disadvantaged by the scheme.
Following our letter sent to the First Minister on 27 May on the future of the Support Schemes, Haemophilia Scotland intend to highlight the serious concerns raised by our members on this and the importance of protecting these for life in legislation, as recommended by both Sir Brian Langstaff and Sir Robert Francis.
We will also be raising our concerns over whether the categorisation of the impact of Hepatitis C adequately covers the complexity and severity of this condition and seeking further clarification on issues relating to payments made to estates, plus what legal and other support will be available from the IBCA for applicants.
Sir Robert Francis has also welcomed the opportunity for those in attendance and the wider community to submit written responses relating to compensation. To enable you to do this, we are circulating the documentation we have received for the meeting here. The document ‘Infected Blood Compensation Scheme – Engagement Explainer is a proposal which is subject to change and it our understanding that this reflects the intentions of Government prior to the dissolution of Parliament in advance of the General Election on 4th July. A future Government may or may not support the approach adopted here. It is for us and our members to seek to influence the shape of the final document which will during July/August be included in secondary legislation under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024.
To ensure we as Haemophilia Scotland are representing the concerns of our members, you can write to us confidentially at hello@haemophilia.scot.
You can also write direct to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority at ibcaenquiries@cabinetoffice.go.uk
Any comments need to be submitted within the next three weeks.