Infected Blood Inquiry debated in the Lords

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On Tuesday 15 October, members of the House of Lords debated the response to the report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 20 May 2024.

Debate

Baroness Twycross (Labour), government whip and former trustee of the National Emergencies Trust, put forward the debate and responded on behalf of the government.

This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns. 

Members speaking

Contributing members included:

Lord Bichard (Crossbench), former chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence
Baroness Brinton (Liberal Democrats), Lords Liberal Democrat spokesperson for victims
Earl Howe (Conservative), former president of the Institute for Clinical Research
Lord Jones (Labour), president of North Wales NHS Charity, Awyr Las (Blue Sky).

Opening the debate, Baroness Twycross said:

'Nothing that I can do or we can say will right the wrongs done to those infected and affected by this scandal. The best that we can do is to read, to reflect and to honour the courage of those impacted by this scandal and take the necessary action to ensure that something of this nature is never allowed to happen again in our country.'

Baroness Brinton said:

'This report is exceptional: it joins up failures by past governments of all colours in other scandals and tragedies; it understands how the NHS failed vulnerable patients time and again, and it lays a clear route map for ministers, Whitehall, Parliament and those in the health sector to begin to remedy this.'

Earl Howe added:

'There are imperatives arising from Sir Brian’s recommendations that require swift action, the most obvious being the need to deliver compensation expeditiously to the people infected and affected by this disaster, on a scale that properly reflects the degree of harm and suffering inflicted on them.'