As a current WIBSS beneficiary, if there is a significant change to your health, you may qualify to receive advanced Stage II Hepatitis C support if you have or have had any of the following:
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Primary liver cancer
- B cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- If you have received or are on the waiting list for a liver transplant
Advanced Stage II payments are currently:
- An additional lump sum of £50,000 (in addition to the £20,000 you should already have received as a Stage I Chronic Hepatitis C beneficiary), and
- regular payments which are currently £18,833 per annum or for those co-infected with HIV and Hepatitis £37,175 per annum.
To claim this funding, you should complete the advanced Hepatitis C application form – available here and relevant guidance can be found here.
Once you have completed your sections of the form, you should pass this to a relevant doctor who will need to provide some clinical information to confirm you have one of the conditions specified above. This could be a Hepatitis C clinical specialist (either a hepatologist or an infectious diseases consultant) or it could be another consultant if they are involved in treating your illness.
Once your form has been considered by WIBSS, if it is confirmed you are eligible for advanced Hepatitis C support, you will receive your additional lump sum and your regular payment will start as soon as possible, with personalised details sent via your contact preference. Your regular payments will be backdated to the date you submitted your application on a pro rata basis for the financial year.
WIBSS will aim to provide a decision on all applications within 25 working days, although it may take longer if they need to ask you or your doctor for any additional information.
Please contact WIBSS if you have any queries; are not sure which form to complete; or would like help with completing the forms. If you require a hard copy of the form, please contact WIBSS and one will be sent to you in the post.