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Victims of the infected blood scandal will receive financial support for life, the government has confirmed.
Announcing the updated multi-billion-pound compensation scheme, the government said there would also be additional payments for victims of the scandal who were subjected to “unethical research”.
More than 30,000 Britons contracted HIV or hepatitis after being given contaminated blood and blood products in the 1970s and 1980s in what has been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
A long-awaited report from the Infected Blood Inquiry, published earlier this year, found the scandal, which has so far claimed the lives of around 3,000 people, “could largely have been avoided” and there was a “pervasive” cover-up to hide the truth.
The government has now confirmed regular support scheme payments, including for bereaved partners, will continue for life.
Infected people – both living and dead – will start receiving payments through the new framework by the end of this year, while for others affected by the scandal, payments will begin in 2025, the Cabinet Office said.
Those subjected to “unethical research” without their knowledge, identified by the Infected Blood Inquiry, will receive an additional £10,000 payment.
For those who underwent treatment as children at Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College in Hampshire, in what has been described as a “particularly egregious” case of unethical testing, that figure will be £15,000.
Pupils at the school were treated for haemophilia using plasma blood products infected with HIV and hepatitis. The Infected Blood Inquiry found NHS clinicians continued with…
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