Infected blood scandal victims’ families to receive £100k compensation in months
FAMILIES of those who died in the infected blood scandal will get compensation in months, it has been announced.
They will be able to register their loved ones’ estates from October to be in line for a £100,000 interim payment.
Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds made the announcement as he apologised to the victims of what has been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
He told MPs: “Work is progressing to ensure these payments are made as soon as we are able to.”
More than 30,000 people were infected with deadly viruses from blood transfusions or blood products while having NHS care between the 1970s and early 1990s.
This year, a public inquiry report said the scandal was covered up, exposing victims to unacceptable risks.
Then-PM Rishi Sunak promised payouts and the new government has agreed to honour them.
Interim compensation of more than £1billion has already been paid to 4,606 victims or partners.
Campaigner Jason Evans welcomed the announcement, saying: “Families have waited far too long.”
Jason Evans, director of Factor 8, which campaigns on behalf of victims, welcomed the announcement.
He said: “Bereaved families have waited far too long to see any compensation, with the Infected Blood Inquiry recommending these interim payments in April 2023.”
made to patients infected with contaminated blood products and bereaved partners – a total of 4,606 recipients.
Jason Evans, director of Factor 8, which campaigns on behalf of victims, welcomed the announcement, adding: “Bereaved families have waited far too long to see any compensation, with the Infected Blood Inquiry recommending these interim payments in April 2023.”
The infected blood scandal in numbers
IT'S thought that tens of thousands of people in the UK were infected with contaminated blood between the 1970s and early 1990s.
Statisticians advising the Infected Blood Inquiry have come up with a number of different figures about how many people have been infected, but they have stressed there is “considerable uncertainty about the conclusions”.
Commentators have suggested that the figures – particularly those around hepatitis C infections – should be seen as a “starting point”.
According to the inquiry’s Statistics Expert Group:
- Around 1,250 people with bleeding disorders such as haemophilia were infected with HIV through infected blood products.
- Some 80 to 100 people were infected with HIV as a result of a blood transfusion – which could have been given following an accident, during surgery, during childbirth or another medical procedure.
- Between 3,650 and 6,250 people with bleeding disorders were infected with hepatitis C – this includes 1,250 people who were infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.
- Some 26,800 people were infected with hepatitis C as a result of having a blood transfusion – though statisticians said this number could vary anywhere between 21,300 and 38,800 people.
- Some 22,000 of these were deemed to be chronically infected as they survived more than six months after their transfusion.
- Among people who received hepatitis C as a result of a blood transfusion, 64 per cent were women.
- Of the 26,800 hepatitis C infections which occurred as a result of a blood transfusion, 22,000 were among patients in England, 2,740 occurred in Scotland, 1,320 in Wales, and 730 patients were infected in Northern Ireland.
- Five people were infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, causing brain damage. They all died.
- The figures do not include people who were “indirectly infected” – such as a partner who caught HIV from a loved one who had been given contaminated blood or a blood product.
- Statisticians said that it is not possible to estimate the numbers of hepatitis B virus infections with “reasonable accuracy”.
It’s been estimated that 3,000 people have died as a result of the infections, while others live with ongoing side effects of infection.