The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood is a cross party group of MPs and members of the House of Lords who share an interest in bleeding disorders and the contaminated blood scandal.
The core purpose of the group is to promote awareness of, and campaign for, people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders and people infected with blood-borne viruses due to contaminated blood and blood products used in their healthcare treatment.
The group is led by Labour MP Diana Johnson and Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley alongside ten vice-chairs including MPs from all major parties represented in Parliament.
The group meets regularly to get updates on developments in bleeding disorder care and treatment and on the inquiry into the historical use of contaminated blood and blood products. It seeks to represent the needs of these communities in parliament and in engagement with Government, Government bodies, the Infected Blood Inquiry and the NHS.
The secretariat to the APPG is provided by The Haemophilia Society. In this role they maintain the membership information of the APPG and facilitate meetings of the APPG in conjunction with the chairs.
The current work of the APPG focuses on:
- Access to treatment and care for people with bleeding disorders
- Campaigning for improvements to the Contaminated Blood Support Schemes
APPG Inquiry into Access to Treatment inquiry
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood has undertaken an Inquiry into the current systems of licensing, procurement, commissioning and prescription of treatments for genetic bleeding disorders in the UK.
It will be launched in early 2020 and will document the current processes with a focus on how these processes impact on the treatments that patients are offered and can be offered by the NHS. It will show where the processes are working well and when they are not and make recommendations for how the processes could be changed to improve access to treatments and outcomes for people with bleeding disorders.
It offered the opportunity to hear directly from people with bleeding disorders including those who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis via their NHS treatment in the 1970’s and 1980’s and will support members to ask questions and participate in debates and Parliamentary meetings on these issues.
The officers of the APPG regularly correspond with the DH on the support available to people affected by contaminated blood and all letters and replies are available on this website. Read the APPG correspondence here.
The APPG reformed after the 2019 election with an inaugural meeting on the 11 February 2020.
The Co-Chairs of the Group are:
- Diana Johnson MP
- Sir Peter Bottomley MP
The Group also undertook an inquiry into the support for those affected by the contaminated blood scandal in the UK which was published in January 2015. Read the full report (PDF) or the executive summary (PDF).
The Secretariat to the APPG on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood is provided by The Haemophilia Society.
The APPG is keen to welcome new members to support their work and ensure haemophilia, bleeding disorders and the contaminated blood tragedy remain on the political agenda. We encourage the affected community to contact their MP and ask them to join the APPG by contacting the Co-Chairs or the Haemophilia Society on APPG@haemophilia.org.uk
The Current membership of the APPG is:
| Sir Peter Bottomley MP (Conservative) | |
| Baroness Bottomley (Conservative) | |
| Virginia Crosbie MP (Conservative) | |
| Wayne David MP (Labour) | |
| Damian Hinds MP (Conservative) | |
| Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour) | |
| Sir George Howarth MP (Labour) | |
| Dame Diana Johnson MP (Labour) | |
| Barbara Keeley MP (Labour) | |
| Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party) | |
| Anthony Mangnall MP (Conservative) | |
| Jason McCartney MP (Conservative) | |
| Jim McMahon MP (Labour) | |
| Baroness Meacher (Crossbencher) | |
| Jessica Morden MP (Labour) | |
| Baroness Ritchie | |
| Tommy Sheppard MP (SNP) | |
| Andy Slaughter MP (Labour) | |
| Chris Stephens MP (SNP) | |
| Jo Stevens MP (Labour) | |
| Alison Thewliss MP (SNP) | |
| Derek Twigg MP (Labour) | |
| Catherine West MP (Labour) | |
| Dr Philippa Whitford MP (SNP) | |
| Pete Wishart MP (SNP) | |
| Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour) |
Disclaimer
This is not an official website of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. All Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed in these webpages are those of the Group.