Failures in compensation scheme for infected blood laid bare in report
The Infected Blood Inquiry warned that there has been a 'repetition of the mistakes of the past' and that people have been 'harmed yet further' since the scheme was established.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the probe, said that the number of people who have been compensated to date is 'profoundly unsatisfactory' as he called for 'faster and fairer' compensation for victims.
The latest report of the inquiry concludes:
– There was a 'missed opportunity' to consult with people impacted by the scandal.
– There has been a 'repetition of mistakes in the past' in the way both the Conservative and Labour governments have responded.
– Trust in the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) has been 'lost' by many members of the infected blood community.
– People impacted by the scandal have expressed a 'grave concern' over the delay in compensation and a 'lack' of clear timescales as to when it will be delivered.
– The report raises concerns about how the regulations underpinning the compensation authority have created a 'liability window' which mean people infected with HIV with contaminated blood or blood products before 1982 will not be compensated which is 'illogical and profoundly unjust'.
– The impacts of a hepatitis infection are not being 'fully recognised' in the compensation scheme, including the impact of early treatment for the virus which has been linked to severe side effects.
Campaign group Tainted Blood has estimated that at least 100 people have died while waiting for compensation since the main report was published last year.
Writing in the 210-page report, Sir Brian said: 'Trust has not yet been regained but instead has been further damaged and that people have been harmed yet further by the way in which they have been treated.'
He said that he felt the need to hold special hearings of the inquiry earlier this year due to 'increasingly desperate' concerns raised to him about the compensation scheme, including some saying that decisions were being made 'behind closed doors'.
Sir Brian added: 'Trust in government has only a tenuous hold; it was weakened further by the failures recounted here, to give people the dignity and the respect they deserve.'
He went on in a statement: 'For decades people who suffered because of infected blood have not been listened to.
'Once again decisions have been made behind closed doors leading to obvious injustices.
'The UK Government has known for years that compensation for thousands of people was inevitable and had identified many of those who should have it – but only 460 have received compensation so far and many, many more have not even been allowed to begin the process.
'It is not too late to get this right. We are calling for compensation to be faster, and more than that, fairer.'
Speaking to people impacted by the scandal at an event in central London, Sir Brian said that 'delay creates an injustice all of its own' as he highlighted 'injustices' in the compensation scheme.
He described how one man spent his dying days applying for compensation but died before he received it.
'One man spent his last days applying for compensation but died before the process was complete.
'His family do not know when they will receive the recognition that should have been his.
'A mother in her 80s, whose two sons and husband were infected at the same hospital, died before she was even allowed to start the process.
'Many, many fear they will not live to see the recognition which compensation brings.'
The report details how another victim described how 'it feels as if we are waiting to die, in limbo, unable to make any progress in our lives'.
He described how victims of the scandal told him how the compensation scheme had left them feeling 'desperate and powerless'.
Sir Brian highlighted how his first report on compensation was published in 2023 yet some affected people have been told that they may not receive compensation until 2029.
He said that it was 'inexplicable' and 'unthinkable' for the compensation scheme to be devised without input from the infected blood community.
Sir Brian said that 'time is not on anyone's side' as he made a series of recommendations to improve the compensation scheme.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.
And more than 3,000 people have died as a result, and survivors are living with life-long health implications.
The latest report into the scandal states that 'the impacts of infection with hepatitis are not being fully recognised (or applied) in the scheme as it stands'.
Glenn Wilkinson, from the Contaminated Blood Campaign, told the PA news agency: 'It's not about the speed of compensation, it's about the adequacy of compensation.
'What's the point in delivering a compensation scheme quickly if it's going to fail the majority of people?
'As it stands, those in the hepatitis C community are going to be compensated at the very least 50% less compared to those with HIV when the death toll within the hepatitis C community is far greater than that of the HIV community. There's no justice to this.'
He said that people with hepatitis C feel forced to stay on support schemes as a result of the current compensation scheme which mean they are 'effectively tied to our abuser for the rest of our lives'.
The latest report states: 'Anyone who has read the Inquiry Report of May 2024 will recognise that there has been a repetition of the mistakes of the past in the way in which government (both before and after the general election) has responded.
'The harm which all this has caused is evident in everything that has been said by people infected and affected.'
It adds: 'Although efforts have rightly been made by IBCA to meet and communicate with people infected and affected, what is fundamentally lacking is a formal, significant and influential role for people infected or affected within IBCA.
'Such a lack of involvement both exacerbates mistrust in IBCA and perpetuates the harm which people have suffered over decades.'
The Infected Blood Inquiry published its main report on the scandal in May last year, and a compensation scheme was announced a day later.
But in the same week a general election was called and officials from the IBCA have described how in the early days of the organisation it consisted of two men, a laptop and a phone.
Some £11.8 billion has been allocated to compensate victims, administered by the IBCA.
As of July 1, some 2,043 people have been asked to make a claim, and 460 people have had their compensation paid totalling more than £326 million, according to IBCA figures.
On Sunday, the Cabinet Office said that it will 'reduce the administration and process delays' victims are facing, meaning the IBCA will 'be able to deliver services quickly, and require different supporting information from claimants'.
A Government spokesperson said: 'This additional report reflects the unprecedented nature of the Infected Blood Scandal and the thoroughness of the Inquiry's investigation.
'We are grateful to the Inquiry for its ongoing work. We will now consider all of its recommendations.
'Over £300 million has been paid to victims since the compensation scheme opened last October and we are taking action to enable a quicker compensation process.'
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