Infected Blood Scandal: Inquiry to publish findings

Home » News & Knowledge » Infected Blood Scandal: Inquiry into ‘biggest NHS treatment disaster in history’ to publish findings

A public inquiry into the infected blood scandal is due to publish its findings, after being dubbed the ‘biggest treatment disaster in NHS history’.

HIV and hepatitis C-infected blood was given to more than 30,000 people in blood transfusions and contaminated blood products for more than two decades.

The scandal affected two groups of vulnerable people, who needed blood from 1970 to 1991. One group was people with haemophilia – an inherited disorder where the blood does not clot.

Infected Blood Scandal

A new treatment, made from donated human blood plasma was developed in the 1970s to replace the missing clotting agents to help the blood clot.

However, batches of the new treatment, known as Factor VIII and Factor IX – were contaminated with deadly viruses, with some being imported from the US where blood was bought from high-risk donors such as drug users and prison inmates.

The second group of affected people were those who had a blood transfusion after accidents, childbirth or during medical treatment. Although blood for these victims was not imported, some of it was contaminated with hepatitis C.

It is thought that around 3,000 people have died since, and thousands more could be living with the diseases undetected.

A public inquiry into the scandal is due to publish its findings this week and an apology from the government is expected.

However, victims say that any potential apology from the government “won’t bring back the dead”.

Ros Cooper, who was infected with hepatitis C after treatment for a bleeding disorder as a child, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “words don’t mean a lot”.

“To a lot of people who’ve lost loved ones, what are words going to do? It’s not going to bring back the dead, it’s not going to wash away crimes that have been committed,” she said.

“Lives were effectively ruined because of those decisions. Any kind of apology, to be worth anything to the victims, needs to come from somebody who truly understands that.”

Infected blood scandal inquiry

The public inquiry is expected to address whether victims have received enough support, whether there were attempts by the government or NHS to conceal what happened, or if more should have been done to prevent people from becoming infected.

The inquiry has taken four years to investigation, where victims and their families have given evidence alongside former and current ministers, including Lord Clarke, who was health minister in the 1980s, and the current chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who also gave evidence in his former role as health minister.

Questions have been raised around how this happened, and to what extent it was concealed from public knowledge.

According to reports, concerns were raised as early as 1983, when the Observer flagged the risk, warning: “A commercial blood product imported into Britain from the United States may pose a grave threat to the health of haemophiliacs.”

However, the government said ‘there was no conclusive proof’ and failed to withdraw the contaminated product.

Infected blood scandal compensation

Recommendations into how much compensation victims and their families should receive have been addressed in Sir Brian’s two interim reports, published in July 2022 and April 2023.

So far, the government has accepted the moral case for compensation, and interim payouts of £100,000 each have already been made to about 4,000 survivors and bereaved partners.

However, ministers have promised to address the issue of final compensation once the inquiry’s report is published. The total cost is likely to run into billions.

Infected blood scandal victims

Hundreds of victims are reported to have given evidence in the inquiry, more than 5,000 witness statements and 100,000 comments have been reviewed since the inquiry started in 2019.

Meanwhile, It has been estimated that one person dies as a result of infected blood every four days.

The Tainted Blood campaign group chairman, Andy Evans, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C as a child through his haemophilia treatment, said publication of the report would be a “defining” moment after decades of campaigning.

He said:

“This is where we pin our hopes, really – we don’t have anywhere else to go after this.

“From the very beginning, victims have been gas-lit by the government saying that the treatment was the best available and every decision was made with the best intention and with the best information they had available at the time.

“Through the course of the inquiry, that’s proven to be false. The testimony that we’ve heard, both from victims and from people in office and the NHS, has shown that that wasn’t true.”

Carol Cook, Head of Medical Negligence at Oakwood Solicitors said:

“I am pleased that this inquiry is finally coming to an end, and I hope the published findings provide the victims of this scandal and their families some much deserved and long-awaited answers.

“I hope the inquiry delivers an open and honest account of what has happened and doesn’t leave too many questions unanswered.”

Medical negligence

Medical negligence is when you have suffered preventable harm as a result of negligence from a healthcare professional. Medical Negligence can include a failure to diagnose, delays to treatment or incorrect treatment.

If you have suffered as a result of negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation for the damages.

Who can claim for medical negligence?

The victim of the negligence can bring about a claim in their own right. However, it is often sadly the case that the victim is either unable to bring about a claim or has sadly passed.

In such circumstances, a claim can be brought about on their behalf either by an appropriate person or litigation friend if the victim is still with us or by the executor of the estate of the surviving dependant if the victim has passed.

Our specialist team will be able to discuss whether you have a right to bring about a claim, so if you or a loved one has been affected do not hesitate to contact us.

How to make a claim

If you have suffered as a result of medical negligence you may be entitled to bring about a claim.

Oakwood Solicitors Ltd has a dedicated team of solicitors and paralegals who have many years’ experience between them in running cases of this nature. They are highly trained to deal with all aspects of clinical negligence.

We wish to ensure that clients are not overwhelmed by legal jargon or medical terms that they don’t understand and aims to allow the claims procedure to be as transparent as possible.

The team will be able to give you free advice on the prospects of your case and whether you would be eligible to make a claim.

Infected Blood Scandal: Inquiry into ‘biggest NHS treatment disaster in history’ to publish findings