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The Secretary of State for Health, Lord John Reid, wrote to Andy Kerr, repeating the line regarding introduction of the donor screening for Hepatitis C in the UK in 1991 in the context of the Government's position that a public inquiry was not justified.

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In his written statement to the Inquiry Lord Reid noted that the wording of his letter to Andrew Kerr was based on the briefing received by officials and agreed that the line was 'simply inaccurate'.

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In his oral evidence to the Inquiry, Lord John Reid acknowledged that it was accurate to say that Hepatitis C screening could have been introduced earlier than 1991, although he did not have knowledge of this at the time.

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In her letter to Nick Harvey MP, Caroline Flint, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, repeated the line that Hepatitis C Screening could not have been introduced sooner and that a public inquiry was not justified.

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Responding to Carol Grayson, the Department of Health's Customer Service Directorate asserted that donor screening for Hepatitis C "could not have been implemented" before 1991.

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Lord Warner, speaking in the House of Lords, claimed that "the infection of people with hepatitis C was inadvertent. Nothing could have been done at the time with the technology available to assess the blood for that level of infection."

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Caroline Flint, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, repeated in a letter to the Haemophilia Society that "Donor screening for hepatitis C was introduced in the UK in 1991 and the development of this test marked a major advance in microbiological technology, which could not have been implemented before this time."

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The press release, related to the the report on self-sufficiency in blood products in England and Wales, stated that "The review based on the available evidence, concludes that clinicians acted in the best interest of their patients in the light of the evidence available at the time. Donor screening for hepatitis C was introduced in the UK in 1991 and the development of this test marked a major advance in technology, which could not have been implemented before this time."

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A document prepared as part of a briefing for a parliamentary question in the House of Lords repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner and that a public inquiry was not justified.

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In her oral evidence to the Inquiry, Caroline Flint observed that advice and briefings she received "were very much sort of a 100 percent suggesting that there was no testing that could have been done before 1991".

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The Department of Health, in response to a "Wales on Sunday" story on renewed calls for a public inquiry, reiterated their position that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner.

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In her letter to Michael Connarty MP, Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner in response to a request for a public inquiry.

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A Department of Health communications official approved the following line to take: "We have great sympathy for those infected with Hepatitis C and HIV and have considered the call for a public inquiry very carefully. However, the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at that time and therefore we do not feel a public inquiry would provide any real benefit to those affected."

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In a letter to the Manor House Group, Caroline Flint again explained the rejection of a public inquiry by reference to the introduction of donor screening for Hepatitis C in 1991 "which could not have been implemented before this time".

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In a letter to the Haemophilia Society, Caroline Flint again explained the rejection of a public inquiry by reference to the introduction of donor screening for Hepatitis C in 1991 "which could not have been implemented before this time".

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The Department of Health's Customer Service Centre wrote to campaigner Sue Threakall adopting the line that the Government did not accept that any wrongful practices were employed, did not consider that a public inquiry is justified and that Hepatitis C screening could not have been implemented before 1991.

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A draft follow up letter from the Department of Health's Customer Service Centre to campaigner Sue Threakall contained a longer explanation, which included the line that "viral inactivation processes, heat treatment and screening tests were developed and introduced as soon as practicable."

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Caroline Flint approved the draft follow up letter from the Department of Health's Customer Service Centre to campaigner Sue Threakall containing a longer explanation, which included the line that "viral inactivation processes, heat treatment and screening tests were developed and introduced as soon as practicable."

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William Connon wrote to Dawn Primarolo, the Minister of State for Public Health, and to Lord Hunt in response to media reports of an announcement of a public inquiry. The lines to take included "the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at the time" and donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner.

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In a letter to the Manor House Group, Dawn Primarolo, Minister of State for Public Health, repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner and that "the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at the time."

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