The recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report are still under consideration by the Government. I recognise this is a matter of great importance to many in this House, and I was grateful for the opportunity to update the House on this on 22 June.

The recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report are still under consideration by the Government. I recognise this is a matter of great importance to many in this House, and I was grateful for the opportunity to update the House on this on 22 June.

Sir Robert Francis QC has been appointed to carry out an independent study to provide Government with advice and recommendations about a potential framework for compensation to the infected and affected communities. The terms of reference of the study includes consideration of whether compensation should be extended to parents and children. These can be found on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-compensation-framework-study-terms-of-reference.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for promoting blood, organ and stem cell donation and carries out a wide range of social marketing activity relating to donation with information aimed at different target audiences.

In particular, NHSBT has produced a range of free teaching resources to educate and engage students about organ and tissue donation. These have been co-created with teachers, educators, clinicians and lessons are specifically tailored to students aged between 11 and 16 (Key Stage 3 and 4).

NHSBT collaborates with Anthony Nolan and the Adrian Sudbury Schools Education Trust who both provide education programmes that teach 16–18-year-olds about the importance of donating stem cells, blood and organs.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the collection, manufacturing and issuing of blood products to the National Health Service in England; for organ and tissue donation in the United Kingdom; and for the British Bone Marrow Registry, to which it recruits registered blood donors to be potential stem cell donors.

NHSBT has ongoing strategies to recruit more blood, organ and stem cell donors from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in order to address the health inequalities faced by patients from those communities. These strategies are informed by research; for example, in 2013 NHSBT commissioned a report by Optimisa Research to understand attitudes and behaviours towards organ donation. Research conducted in 2015 by ESRO Ltd revealed some of the barriers and motivations of people from BAME communities towards blood donation. Copies of these reports are attached.

NHSBT strategies include targeted marketing activity, events, education resources, PR and media work and engagement with faith organisations. The impact of these strategies is evaluated on an ongoing basis to inform future work.

There will be a new national campaign to increase the number of BAME organ donors later this year. The Department sponsors Anthony Nolan and NHSBT to improve equity of access to unrelated donor stem cell transplantation for BAME patients.

NHS England is planning to review the current immunoglobulin national guidelines which have not been updated since 2011. This will be carried out in conjunction with clinical leads and patient groups. Timelines for this piece of work are yet to be finalised.

The main costs associated with the consultation on reform of the infected blood payment schemes were for printing of the consultation document and postage of letters to inform all 3,482 scheme registrants, and 180 hon. Members, of the launch of the consultation. This amounted to £7,177 and was taken from the Department’s own budgets. A core team of three civil servants, with senior management input, is developing the new payment scheme and the consultation is integral to their work. Thirteen additional staff members, from across the Department, are helping to analyse the consultation responses.

Information on the respondents’ status was collected as part of the consultation but it was not obligatory to provide it and neither was it collected in the way asked in this question.

Consultation responses are still being analysed, however to date, the number of respondents by category are;

Under the reformed scheme, annual payments to the hepatitis C stage 1 cohort will be backdated to 1 April 2016.

NHS England commissions stem cell transplant activity for adults and children from 46 providers and have provided the following information on funding.

Total funding for stem cell transplantation was £163 million in 2013/14 and £170 million in 2014/15. Services are commissioned within this budget based on need rather than as individual services. Stem cell transplantation is subject to local pricing and so it is not possible to provide information about funding by provider as this is commercially sensitive.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised care involving adult bone marrow transplantation that includes care up to 100 days after transplant. The costs of care up to 100 days post-transplant are included within the overall budget for stem cell transplantation. NHS England does not hold data on the funding of care beyond this 100 day period.

The Department does not hold information on funding provided for these services before the creation of NHS England in 2013.

The Joint Accreditation Committee for the International Society for Cellular Therapy and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (JACIE) is an independent organisation and the Department does not hold data related to JACIE compliance.

NHS England commissions stem cell transplant activity for adults and children from 46 providers and have provided the following information on funding.

Total funding for stem cell transplantation was £163 million in 2013/14 and £170 million in 2014/15. Services are commissioned within this budget based on need rather than as individual services. Stem cell transplantation is subject to local pricing and so it is not possible to provide information about funding by provider as this is commercially sensitive.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised care involving adult bone marrow transplantation that includes care up to 100 days after transplant. The costs of care up to 100 days post-transplant are included within the overall budget for stem cell transplantation. NHS England does not hold data on the funding of care beyond this 100 day period.

The Department does not hold information on funding provided for these services before the creation of NHS England in 2013.

The Joint Accreditation Committee for the International Society for Cellular Therapy and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (JACIE) is an independent organisation and the Department does not hold data related to JACIE compliance.