Request

Can you also provide me with the selection criteria on which the Panel members are selected, the number of appeals that they have presided over and how long they have been reviewing evidence for the EIBSS. If you are not able to provide this please can you give me the relevant email address to request the information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

The members of the panel include:

• Ms. Megan Larrinaga, Legal Chair & Solicitor

• Dr Patricia Hewitt, Consultant in transfusion medicine

• Dr Norman Gourlay, GP; and

• Dr Peter Mills, Consultant Gastroenterologist

Please note, we inherited the appeals panel when the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) became scheme administrators on 1 November 2017 from the Alliance House Organisations, therefore we do not hold details of the selection criteria used to recruit the three medical experts, who form part of the current panel.

However, the selection criteria should be consistent with that used to recruit the medical assessors, used to initially assess EIBSS applications.

A medical expert’s qualification and experience requirements are shown below:

• Basic medical qualification e.g., MB BS;

• Postgraduate Membership/Fellowship of Royal College of Physicians of London/Edinburgh;

• Specialist accreditation in either Gastroenterology or Infectious Diseases +/- General Internal Medicine;

• Extensive experience of assessing/managing patients with chronic hepatitis C and/or HIV; and

• Extensive evidence of undertaking research in the field of blood borne viruses.

To recruit or engage a medical expert, an advert is placed in the British Medical Journal and, CVs are requested to be submitted. Based on the information provided, the applicants are then shortlisted.

Shortlisting is undertaken by a current medical consultant(s) and interviews are held with the shortlisted applicants. The interview panel consists of one current medical consultant and the EIBSS Service Delivery Manager.

Megan Larrinaga has been Legal Chair of the panel since February 2020, taking over from previous Legal Chair and Solicitor, Nicola Richardson.

The Chairperson is required to be a qualified Solicitor, so as a minimum the NHSBSA require them to have completed the following qualifications and training and to have chairperson and/or appeals panel experience:

• Three-year undergraduate degree (+ 1-year GDL conversion course if required);

• One-year Legal Practice Course (LPC);

• Two-year Professional Skills Course;

• Two-year law training contract in a law firm.

To recruit or engage the legal chair, an advert is placed in the British Medical Journal and CVs are requested to be submitted. Based on the information provided, the applicants are then shortlisted.

Shortlisting is undertaken by the current Chairperson and interviews are held with the shortlisted applicants. The interview panel consists of the current Chairperson and the EIBSS Service Delivery Manager.

The first EIBSS appeals meeting took place in February 2018, and the panel met approximately once every quarter. Since then, the panel has met 26 times, and reviewed 228 cases.

From February 2023, due to high demand, the panel began to meet once per month reviewing up to 8 cases per meeting. The maximum caseload of 8 was introduced as each case is treated individually and to ensure the panel could thoroughly consider all the evidence provided for each application and provide their decision in the agreed timescale of 10 working days. Please note that the above named do not consent to being contacted in relation to their work. All queries or requests to contact them should be made through EIBSS. In addition, they may not be contacted to further any appeal/grievance which must be done via the EIBSS appeal process, information on which can be found at the below web link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/who-can-join-scheme-and-how-apply/how-appeal