Infected blood community expecting to hear how much compensation they will get

Some campaigners have been calling for redress for decades.

Infected blood victims and campaigners have been fighting for decades for compensation (PA) (PA Wire)

People affected by the contaminated blood scandal expect to find out how much they will be paid in compensation in the near future.

Members of the community have been meeting Cabinet Office Minister John Glen ahead of the final report of the public inquiry into the scandal.

Some have told the PA news agency they expect that the Government is likely to set out how much compensation will be paid, simplified into a few categories, or tariffs.

This is likely to come under five main categories: injury, social impact, autonomy, care and financial loss.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.

These include people who needed blood transfusions for accidents, in surgery or during childbirth, and people with certain blood disorders who were treated with donated blood plasma or blood transfusions.

Some 3,000 people have died and others have been left with life-long health complications.

It has been estimated that one person dies as a result every four days.

The scandal has been dubbed the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS and campaigners have been calling for compensation for decades.

Campaigners say that they asked the Government not to make any announcements on compensation on the day the inquiry is published, leaving people affected by the scandal a day to reflect on the findings in the report.

It feels like we might finally be at the end of that very, very long road

Jason Evans, Factor 8

Jason Evans’ first campaign meeting took place when he was aged one in 1990 – when his father, infected with HIV and hepatitis C after receiving the Factor VIII blood product, took him to meet their MP to seek advice on potential compensation.

“The purpose of that meeting was my dad was asking his MP about compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal,” the director of the Factor 8 campaign group told PA.

“That fight has gone on for me ever since then – 30-plus years, and it feels like we might finally be at the end of that very, very long road.”

The speed at which ministers have responded to calls for compensation has been heavily criticised in the past by campaigners.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was heckled by victims when he appeared before the Infected Blood Inquiry last summer as he vowed to pay compensation “as swiftly as possible”.

The inquiry made its final recommendations on compensation in April 2023.

Inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff said at the time that he “could not in conscience add to the decades-long delays” victims had already faced.

He said that “no time must be wasted in delivering redress” as he recommended that a compensation scheme should be set up before the final report of the inquiry.

But the scheme is not yet fully operational, though it is understood that officials are now moving at pace to get the arm’s length Infected Blood Compensation Authority up and running.

Indeed before the organisation is fully established, a “shadow body” is working behind the scenes to get everything in place.

The Government has confirmed that those living with chronic infections and who are on existing support schemes will be prioritised for compensation payments.

Mr Glen told representatives from The Haemophilia Society that the funding pot to compensate people affected by the scandal could be upwards of £10 billion.

So far about £400 million has been paid out through interim compensation payments of £100,000 to infected people or bereaved partners.

But last year Sir Brian said that these interim payments left many “unrecognised” – including parents who lost children and children orphaned when their parents died.

Now ministers have announced that the interim payments will be available to a wider group of people affected by the scandal.

Officials have confirmed that interim payments will also be paid to the “estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes”, which means that more people will become eligible for interim payments.

Speaking ahead of the inquiry, a Government spokesman said: “This was an appalling tragedy that never should have happened.

“We are clear that justice needs to be done and swiftly, which is why we have acted in amending the Victims and Prisoners Bill.

“This includes establishing a new body to deliver an Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, confirming the Government will make the required regulations for it within three months of royal assent, and that it will have all the funding needed to deliver compensation once they have identified the victims and assessed claims.

“In addition, we have included a statutory duty to provide additional interim payments to the estates of deceased infected people.

“We will continue to listen carefully to the community as we address this dreadful scandal.”