Compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal will be made before the end of the year, ministers have confirmed.
The announcement comes after the public inquiry into the Infected Blood Scandal concluded yesterday, which revealed the shocking extent of failures the government and NHS made.
Today, government announced that victims will receive £210,000 as an interim compensation payment from as early as this summer, and infected people who die between now and the payments being made will get the money sent to their estates.
Cabinet minister John Glen said:
“As the prime minister made clear yesterday, there is no restriction on the budget. Where we need to pay, we will pay.
“We will minimise delays, we will address the recommendations of Sir Brian Langstaff with respect to that – speed and efficiency and removing as much complexity as possible.”
It was not confirmed how much the compensation package would cost in total, but former justice secretary Robert Buckland said it could be upwards of £10 billion.
What is the infected blood scandal?
The compensation announcement comes after the 7-year public inquiry heard how 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 – from 1970 to 1991.
One group was people with haemophilia – an inherited disorder where the blood does not clot.
The scandal occurred when a new treatment, made from donated human blood plasma was developed to help people with haemophilia’s 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.
The public inquiry heard how professionals and authorities such as Department of Health and Social Security were aware of the risk of infection but continued to treat patients, research was conducted on patients with haemophilia, including children, without their knowledge or consent, and documents were deliberately destroyed to conceal evidence of failures.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a ‘wholehearted and unequivocal apology’ after hearing the extent of the failings.
He said:
“This is a day of shame for the British state. Today’s report shows a decades-long moral failure at the heart of our national life.
“From the National Health Service to the civil service, to ministers in successive government at every level, the people, and institutions in which we place our trust failed in the most harrowing and devastating way. They failed the victims and their families – and they failed this country.”
He promised compensation would be given to victims and those affected, adding: “Whatever it costs to deliver this scheme, we will pay it.”
Today, Cabinet Office Minister John Glen said he recognised that “time is of the essence” as he announced that many will also benefit from further interim compensation payments of £210,000 within 90 days.
He added that all those affected by the scandal – not only those who were infected with contaminated blood – will receive payouts, he confirmed, listing partners, parents, siblings, children, family, and friends.
Infected blood scandal – What we know about the compensation scheme
The government has set out how the Infected Blood Scandal compensation scheme will work, and how to claim compensation.
We have broken down what we know so far:
- The Infected Blood Compensation Authority has been established to administer compensation, with Sir Robert Francis KC as the interim chair.
- Anyone directly or indirectly infected by NHS blood, blood products or tissue contaminated with HIV or Hepatitis C, or developed a chronic infection from blood contaminated with Hepatitis B is eligible for compensation
- If someone would have been eligible but has died, compensation will be paid to their estate
- When a victim has been accepted into the scheme, their affected partners, parents, siblings, children, friends, and family who acted as carers of them can claim in their own right
- People who are registered with an existing infected blood support scheme will be automatically eligible for compensation to minimise the distress of proving they should be
- There will be five types of compensation: an injury impact award, social impact award (to acknowledge the stigma or social isolation from being infected), autonomy award (for disrupted family/private life), care award (for past and future care needs), and financial loss award (for past and future financial losses caused by being infected)
- Compensation will be offered in a lump sum or periodic payments
- The family of anyone who has died will get a single lump sum
- Any payments will be exempt from income, capital gains and inheritance tax
- Payments will not count towards means-tested benefit assessments
- All recipients can appeal their compensation
- Final payments will start before the end of the year
- No immediate changes to existing infected blood support scheme payments – they will continue until 31 March 2025 and will not be deducted from new compensation
- From 1 April 2025, any support scheme payments received will be counted towards final compensation
- Nobody will receive less in compensation than they would have received in support payments
Further reading
Hospital negligence claims – Oakwood Solicitors
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Jade Glover is a Solicitor in the Medical Negligence team. She has worked for the company for over 9 years and completed her training during that time. She has specialised in Personal Injury clai…
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