Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 27 March 2024.
Paul Girvan
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Education), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Transport)
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what psychological support is available for people infected and affected by contaminated blood and blood products in South Antrim.
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women), The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
Health Services in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Government.
In Northern Ireland, specialist clinical psychological support has been available for all infected and affected individuals impacted by contaminated blood since January 2019. The service was initially provided within the existing Clinical Health Psychological Services. After receiving the non-recurrent funding from the Department of Health as part of the inquiry process, a dedicated regional psychological service, providing assessment, psychological therapies, liaison and sign posting as appropriate, for those individuals who were infected and affected, as well as their relatives, has been made available. This includes HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C infected or affected individuals. A patient and family information leaflet is available within clinics and to clinicians, to discuss referral to this service with patients and their families.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
