Health Bill [HL]

I shall be very brief, as we are up against the clock. I hope that we will have a constructive reply from the Minister this evening in so far as she has time to deliver one. I understand that the Government did not provide witnesses to the inquiry chaired so ably by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Archer. That was regrettable. I join the noble Baroness in congratulating the noble and learned Lord on an excellent and thorough report. Great credit is due to him, his colleagues and all those who gave evidence to him. One of the things that I have learnt from the report is that there are too many haemophilia patients currently suffering hardship and serious distress as a result of this worst of all healthcare accidents in the history of the NHS. The Government have a moral obligation to give careful consideration to the report and to respond to its recommendations for the sake of those patients.