Group of about 500 people to reinstate 2017 lawsuit against government due to ‘holes and gaps’ in compensation framework
Hundreds of people in the UK infected with contaminated blood and relatives of those infected are going ahead with plans to sue the health secretary for damages, having been left dissatisfied with the government’s announcement on compensation.
A group claim by about 500 people against the government alleging it breached a duty to take reasonable care to prevent personal injury or loss, amounting to misfeasance in public office, began in 2017 but was paused pending the inquiry into the scandal, which published its final report on Monday.
‘Outrageous’ that payouts to victims in other countries are not being matched in UK, say campaigners
Global pharmaceutical firms that supplied products involved in the contaminated blood scandal face calls this weekend to foot part of the estimated £10bn compensation bill.
MPs and campaigners want the government to pursue action against drug firms that to date have not paid any compensation in the UK. Their products were contaminated with viruses, including HIV and hepatitis C.
Victims of the contaminated blood scandal finally got some of the justice they have been seeking this week when Sir Brian Langstaff published the final report of his inquiry. The Guardian’s John Harris speaks to the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who has campaigned for those affected by the disaster and was the health secretary from 2009-10
People infected as well as close relations of victims or those caring for victims will be eligible
Victims of the infected blood scandal – seen as one of the worst treatment disasters in the history of the NHS – have raised concerns about the government’s pledged compensation scheme.
There are worries that existing payments could be conflated as being part of the wider compensation scheme.
An injury impact award, to recognise the physical and mental injury the infection has caused victims.
A social impact award to acknowledge the stigma or social isolation.
An autonomy award.
A care award.
A financial loss award.
Hepatitis B or hepatitis C acute, defined as an infection shorter than six months.
Hepatitis C or hepatitis B chronic, defined as infections longer than six months.
Hepatitis C or bepatitis B cirrhosis, which left long-term liver damage.
Hepatitis C or hepatitis B – decompensated cirrhosis
HIV.
Co-infection of HIV and hepatitis C or hepatitis B.
Hepatitis C (acute): £35,500.
Hepatitis C or hepatitis B (chronic): £665,000 to £810,000.
Hepatitis C or hepatitis B (cirrhosis): £985,000 to £1,130,000.
Hepatitis C or hepatitis B (decompensated cirrhosis, and/or liver cancer and/or liver transplantation): £1,412,000 to £1,557,000.
HIV: £2,225,000 to £2,615,000.
HIV and hepatitis C/ hepatitis B (acute): £2,257,500 – £2,647,500.
HIV and hepatitis C/ hepatitis B (chronic): £2,270,000 – £2,660,000.
HIV and hepatitis C/ hepatitis B (cirrhosis): £2,315,000 – £2,705,000.
HIV and hepatitis C/ hepatitis B (decompensated cirrhosis: £2,345,000 – £2,735,000.
HIV and hepatitis C/ hepatitis B (liver cancer and/or liver transplantation): £2,345,000 – £2,735,000.
Hepatitis C and hepatitis B (chronic): £730,000 – £1,642,000 (depending on severity band).
A small team has started looking at the infected blood inquiry’s final report on behalf of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, as lawyers said the time that has passed since the alleged offences should not be a bar to prosecutions.
Brian Langstaff did not address the issue of criminal liability in his report, as this lies outside the remit of public inquiries, but calls for prosecutions have amplified over his findings of NHS and government culpability, which included shredding of documents to hide evidence.
Minister lays out details of compensation scheme day after damning report found NHS and government culpable for scandal
Victims of the contaminated blood scandal could receive over £2.5m in compensation under a multibillion pound scheme announced a day after a damning report found the NHS and government culpable for the tragedy.
The paymaster general, John Glen, outlined details of the scheme in parliament on Tuesday, following criticism in Sir Brian Langstaff’s final report of the government’s failure to set up a compensation framework for those infected and affected by the scandal, which he had called for last year.
Stuart Bolitho on why his life is still a ticking timebomb, more than 30 years after he was given contaminated blood, Marjorie Haynes on her father, who she believes died from Aids in the days before blood was tested, and Christine Hancock on a warning that wasn’t heeded
On Monday, I learned that 33 years after I was given a contaminated blood transfusion, the government has admitted that I and thousands of others were victims of a corrupt, careless system, and that we should receive compensation (UK infected blood scandal made worse by ‘chilling’ cover-up, inquiry finds, 20 May). It is a hollow victory.
I received a transfusion that contained hepatitis C after a stomach operation. I was fortunate to survive, unlike many others. My thoughts go out to their families. Although I have survived so far, hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer at any time. It’s a time bomb and is so frightening.
Brian Langstaff’s report has opened the door. We will keep fighting to bring those responsible to justice
Andy Evans is the chair of the Tainted Blood campaign group
Finally, people know we’re not conspiracy theorists. We’re not raving mad, and we haven’t been barking up the wrong tree. “Go away, live your lives, it was all a mistake,” is a refrain we infected blood campaigners and victims have heard for decades. But it turns out it wasn’t “just a mistake”, that more than 30,000 patients received blood infected with HIV and hepatitis C. And now, finally, the lies, the closing of ranks, and the blatant conspiracy to pervert justice for victims has been laid bare.
Brian Langstaff’s report is everything we have been saying for the last 40 years, packaged up by a high court judge and signed off in a public inquiry. His findings – that victims have been let down by “successive governments” who ignored warnings about contamination and engaged in a “cover-up” – are seismic.
Andy Evans is the chair of the Tainted Blood campaign group. As told to Lucy Pasha-Robinson
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Gove claims that the anti-Israel protests that have sprung up on university campuses around the world have not appeared in a vacuum, and are the product of “years of ideological radicalisation”.
He says the decolonisation narrative is attractive to authoritarian states, because the iddea that “the success of liberal Western nations is built on plunder” undermines their legitimacy.
There are no BDS campaigns directed against Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime guilty of killing more Muslims in living memory than any other.
There are no student encampments, urging university administrators to cut all ties with China given what is happening in Xinjiang or Hong Kong, or what happened in Tibet.
Minister to set out £10bn scheme after pledge from Rishi Sunak to pay ‘whatever it costs’
Thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal and their families are to learn how ministers plan to compensate them for their suffering and loss of earnings after Rishi Sunak pledged to pay “whatever it costs”.
The details of the long-delayed scheme, which is expected to cost more than £10bn, will be set out by the Cabinet Office minister John Glen on Tuesday.
Rishi Sunak’s words were echoed across almost all the major newspaper front pages on Tuesday, as the prime minister apologised for the failures of successive governments over the infected blood scandal, declaring it a “day of shame for the British state”.
A report released at the end of a five-year public inquiry found that the scandal that claimed the lives of 3,000 people treated with contaminated blood was made worse by a “chilling” NHS and government cover-up.
The final report on the infected blood scandal details the litany of government and healthcare failures which led to thousands of people being infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. It contains harsh words for doctors, ministers and civil servants, but it also aims to shine a light on the heartbreaking stories of pain and loss from victims and their families. Here are some of their reactions to the report in Westminster on Monday.
‘We must make sure nothing like this happens again’, Rishi Sunak exclaimed. Except it will
Remember Hillsborough? Remember Grenfell? Remember the Post Office Horizon scandal? Of course you do. So you probably don’t have much faith in organisations and government to tell the truth. Because on every occasion, what you get from politicians is a lot of hand-wringing. Bucketfuls of faux piety. Verging on the lachrymose. Not forgetting the sincerity. Always the sincerity.
“This. Must. Never. Be. Allowed. To. Happen. Again,” they say. Talking extra slowly and over-emphasising each word. Because this time they think the public might be watching them. Because this time they expect to be believed. “Read my lips. I’m an honest broker.” Except we all know they’re not. That every time they say this mustn’t happen again, there’s another thing coming just round the corner they had said must never happen again.
The grave failures of politicians, civil servants and the NHS over decades must lead to change
Nothing can bring back the 3,000 or so people who died as a result of contaminated blood products given to them by the NHS from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Thousands of others continue to struggle with viruses acquired in the same way, while others live with the knowledge that loved ones, including children, died or were infected needlessly. The report of the infected blood inquiry, published on Monday, has been far too long in coming. Victims of this disgraceful episode were fobbed off for decades, before the then prime minister Theresa May agreed to a public inquiry in 2017.
That decision was taken under strong pressure from campaigners. Andy Evans, who was infected with hepatitis C and HIV as a child, has described the official response as “kicking and screaming” all the way. The statement by the inquiry’s chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, on Monday was greeted with a standing ovation. But campaigners’ relief is mingled with anger and sadness. Truth, justice and accountability should not have been delayed for so long.
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Key people and groups involved in perpetuating and covering up the public health disaster, and those who brought it to light
The infected blood scandal could largely have been avoided and there was a cover-up to hide the truth, an inquiry has concluded.
Patients were knowingly exposed to unacceptable risks of infection, the inquiry found, and deliberate attempts were made to conceal the disaster, including by Whitehall officials destroying documents.
To many who were infected, or whose loved ones were, the report confirms what they already knew
“We have been gaslit for generations,” was the reaction of Andy Evans, chair of campaign group Tainted Blood, in response to the final report into the contaminated blood scandal.
To many who were infected, or whose parents, children, partners or other loved ones were, the report merely confirms what they already knew.
Ordinary people were wronged, their lives ruined and so many cut short. After today’s devastating report, a reckoning is long overdue
It was one of the worst medical disasters of our time. Some 30,000 people who needed the help of the NHS to stay alive and well were given treatment that wrecked their health, took the lives of nearly 3,000 and will be responsible for more deaths to come. Finally, today, half a century on, the six-year Langstaff inquiry has produced a judgment on the infected blood scandal – and it is devastating.
The list of errors and misjudgments is extraordinary and it is clear that arrogance from the medical profession played a big part, as well as greed from the pharmaceutical companies and back-covering from the politicians. So many heads should roll, but many of the most culpable individuals are dead.
Sarah Boseley is the former health editor of the Guardian
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
A survivor of a school at the centre of the contaminated blood scandal where pupils were viewed as “cheaper than chimps” says he feels vindication by Monday’s report after decades of campaigning.
As a child Richard Warwick, 58, was infected with HIV and hepatitis C during experimental trials when he was pupil at Treloar’s college – a specialist school in Hampshire for haemophiliacs.
Groups representing victims say trust in government can no longer be taken for granted after report finds evidence of cover-up
Politicians “should hang their heads in shame” over the contaminated blood scandal, victims’ groups have said, and warned of future disasters because lessons have not been learned.
Groups representing those infected with HIV and hepatitis C while being treated between 1970 and 1991 said the public inquiry’s final report vindicated victims who were “gaslit” and treated like “conspiracy theorists” for calling out the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the infected blood scandal as the final report is published on Monday. Plus: could inflation figures released on Wednesday give the Conservatives a desperately needed boost?
PM gives statement following report that found ‘subtle, pervasive and chilling’ cover-up by NHS and government
GB News has described the Ofcom ruling against it today (see 10.51am and 11.01am) as an “alarming development” that should “terrify” anyone who believes in a free media. Here is its response to the judgment in full.
Ofcom’s finding against GB News today is an alarming development in its attempt to silence us by standing in the way of a forum that allows the public to question politicians directly.
The regulator’s threat to punish a news organisation with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital.
In considering whether the programme was duly impartial, we took into account a range of factors, such as: the audience’s questions to the prime minister; the prime minister’s responses; the presenter’s contribution; and whether due impartiality was preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes. Our investigation found, in summary, that:
-while some of the audience’s questions provided some challenge to, and criticism of, the government’s policies and performance, audience members were not able to challenge the prime minister’s responses and the presenter did not do this to any meaningful extent;
Given the very high compliance risks this programme presented, we found GB News’s approach to compliance to be wholly insufficient, and consider it could have, and should have, taken additional steps to mitigate these risks.
We found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints were not presented and given due weight in the People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, nor was due impartiality preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes. As a result, we consider that the prime minister had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his government in a period preceding a UK general election.
Thousands of deaths could have been avoided, final report on infection of thousands with HIV or hepatitis C concludes
The scandal that claimed the lives of 3,000 people treated with contaminated blood was inflamed by a “chilling” NHS and government cover-up, a scathing report has found on what Rishi Sunak has declared a “day of shame”.
In the long-awaited conclusion to a five-year public inquiry, Brian Langstaff, who chaired the investigation, said on Monday the calamity could “largely, though not entirely, have been avoided” – but successive governments and others in authority “did not put patient safety first”.
A day of reckoning has arrived, more than 50 years since the first victims received infected blood. The UK public inquiry has published its final report, which it is hoped will provide a measure of justice to the thousands of people affected by apportioning blame to the government and health service, and paving the way for a formal apology and compensation scheme. Here are the main points covered.
From 1970 to 1990s, the NHS exposed people to tainted blood through transfusions and gave infected US blood products to haemophiliacs
The final report of the infected blood inquiry will be published on 20 May, almost six years after it started. Here is the background to the scandal the inquiry was set up to investigate.
Chair to share findings of investigation into NHS infection of thousands with HIV or hepatitis C over more than 20 years
The infected blood public inquiry is to publish its final report on the failings that led to the deaths of more than 3,000 people in the UK and ruined many more lives.
The report will detail how more than 30,000 haemophiliacs or transfusion recipients were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C over more than two decades, and is seen as a seismic moment for the victims and their families.
Report from official inquiry due to present findings in what has been described as biggest treatment disaster in history of NHS
A long-awaited final report from the public inquiry into the infected blood scandal is expected to call for those responsible to face prosecution, the Guardian has learned.
The official inquiry, set up under Theresa May in 2017, will present its findings on Monday in a huge moment for victims and bereaved relatives of what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
As the inquiry publishes its final report, the chancellor is under pressure to find £10bn to put right a longstanding injustice
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will come under pressure to stay true to his word and sign off on immediate compensation payments totalling up to £10bn to victims of the contaminated blood scandal when the long-awaited final report on the affair is published on Monday.
The scandal is described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, with more than 3,000 people having died as a result of receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that, even today, a person infected during the scandal dies every four days.
Sue Wathen, Joan Edgington and Nicola Leahey were diagnosed with hepatitis C after struggling through years of unexplained symptoms that were dismissed by doctors.
It is the NHS’s worst treatment disaster – with 30,000 patients infected. Two survivors, Ade Goodyear and Andy Evans, explain why it took so long for it to be brought to light
Ade Goodyear was 15 when he was told he had contracted HIV. Like about 30,000 other NHS patients – including more than 300 children – who were given blood transfusions or commercial blood products before 2019, he was infected by contaminated blood. Some patients got HIV and hepatitis C from blood transfusions after childbirth or other medical procedures. Ade was infected with HIV at the medical centre of his school.
Pupils at his Treloar’s college, which had a specialist haemophilia unit, were among those given injections of a blood plasma product called factor VIII concentrate. Concerns had been raised a decade before by the World Health Organization because it was a commercial product that mixed plasma from tens of thousands of often high-risk donors. If one had an infection such as HIV, it could contaminate the whole batch.
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