Today (Tuesday 30th April 2024) Worcester MP Robin Walker presented a petition in Parliament calling for compensation for the people who suffered in the Infected Blood Scandal to be delivered as soon as possible. The petition was signed by a number of Worcester residents who were either directly infected or whose family members were directly infected by the scandal during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Infected Blood Inquiry was set up in 2017 to investigate the circumstances that lead to thousands of UK patients contracted HIV, hepatitis viruses, or both, from contaminated blood or blood products. It is estimated that almost 30,000 people were infected with Hepatitis C through blood transfusions between 1970 and 1991, with an estimated 1,820 deaths as of 2019 related to Hepatitis C.
Interim payments were made to victims and spouses in 2022 but Sir Brian Langstaff in his 2023 interim report expanded this to also include children and parents of victims. The Inquiry published final recommendations on compensation on 5 April 2023. The report made 18 detailed recommendations on who should receive compensation and how it should be delivered and stated that interim compensation payments of £100,000 should be extended to bereaved parents and children.
The petition presented by Robin today called on the government to implement all recommendations without delay. He said:
“While nothing can truly put right the failures which led to tens of thousands of innocent people being infected with tainted blood, the Infected Blood Inquiry has made a number of recommendations that will go some way to providing justice. Any further delay of justice is a denial of justice.
“This is the first time I have used the parliamentary instrument of presenting a petition, and I commend the brave families of Worcester for their bravery in continuing this fight. I call on colleagues in government to listen to my constituents, and those of other members of the House of Commons, who are united in saying there can be no further delay in providing compensation to the victims of this terrible scandal.”
Full details of the Infected Blood Inquiry, including their recommendations, are available on the website.
