LONDON — More people affected by the U.K’s infected blood scandal should be entitled to compensation, its public inquiry has recommended.
Dubbed the “worst treatment disaster in the NHS,” it has been estimated that thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis from contaminated blood they received from the NHS between 1970 and 1991.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May set up a public inquiry into the scandal in 2017, describing it as “an appalling tragedy which should simply never have happened.”
In July, the inquiry’s chair Brian Langstaff, while continuing to hear evidence, recommended that victims should receive interim compensation of £100,000 until full settlements are agreed when the inquiry publishes its full report. The government made the first compensation payments in October, to around 4,000 surviving victims and widows.
But campaigners said these awards did not go far enough, as they excluded the parents and children of victims.
Compensation extended
In a new interim report published Wednesday, Langstaff agreed, saying some family members, including parents who lost children, “remain unrecognized.”
“It is time to put this right,” he said. The inquiry recommended widening interim compensation payments to include a victim’s parent, child or sibling if the deceased didn’t have a spouse.
Modelling commissioned by the inquiry estimated that 26,800 people contracted hepatitis C during transfusions or treatment for bleeding disorders such as hemophilia. More than 2,800 died as a result.
The academics also found that around 1,350 people were infected with HIV, with half of those estimated to have died.
Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, welcomed the move to widen compensation. She added: “Now government must atone for its shameful avoidance of this scandal and pay compensation to all those whose lives have been devastated.”
The inquiry is expected to publish its final report in the fall.
A government spokesperson said: “The infected blood scandal should never have happened. Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report will help the U.K. government and devolved administrations to meet our shared objective to be able to respond quickly when the inquiry’s final report is published.”
