The Government has announced that 4,000 victims of the infected blood scandal are to be awarded compensation of £100,000 each. The move comes after a report from Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the ongoing inquiry into what has been described as the greatest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, recommended that interim payments should be made ‘without delay’ to individuals infected or bereaved partners, citing the rapidly failing health of many of those affected.
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The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Kit Malthouse, said: ‘These interim payments will start the process of securing that certainty. My priority is to get the money to those people as quickly as possible.’
The scandal grew out of the practice in the 70s and 80s of treating NHS patients with haemophilia and other blood disorders with a US medication made from the pooled blood plasma of thousands of paid donors. If a single donor was infected with a blood-borne virus such as HIV or hepatitis, a whole batch could be contaminated. At least 2,400 NHS patients are said to have died during this period from contaminated blood products.
The payments will exclude the parents, siblings and children of victims. Final recommendations for compensation for this group are expected when the inquiry concludes next year. Des Collins, a solicitor who represents 1,500 of the victims, said: “We will continue to lobby government until all those entitled are fully compensated for the loved ones they have lost.”