The government has confirmed that compensation payments to the victims and families of the infected blood scandal will begin before the end of the year.
Paymaster General John Glen announced details of the government’s plans to compensate those affected by the worst treatment disaster in the NHS’s history in Parliament today.
Glen, who first echoed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s apology in the House of Commons on Monday, which saw him promise “comprehensive compensation… whatever it costs, pledged: “Those infected or affected as a result of this scandal will receive compensation.
“If you have been directly or indirectly infected by NHS blood, blood products or tissue contaminated with HIV or Hepatitis C or have developed a chronic infection from blood contaminated with Hepatitis B you will be eligible to claim compensation under the scheme.”
He added that “where an affected person has died but would have been eligible, compensation will be paid to their estate”.
And he later said: “Our expectation is that final payments will start before the end of the year.”
It comes after the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published yesterday, identified a “catalogue of systemic, collective and individual failures” that amounted to a “calamity” that “could largely have been avoided”.
More than 30,000 people were infected with deadly viruses between the 1970s and early 1990s as they received blood transfusions or blood products while receiving NHS care.
The minister did not confirm the total amount of compensation which the government expects to pay out, which has been reported to amount to £10bn in capital spending, funded via borrowing.
No10 has said the cost will depend on how many individuals are compensated, and a forecast of the total cost would be made at the next ‘fiscal event’—the Autumn Statement, unless an election is called sooner.
Payments will be delivered via the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, an “arms-length body to administer the compensation scheme”, Glen said.
It will be led by Sir Robert Francis KC as chairman, who previously led the inquiry into the Mid Staffs health trust, the minister said. The authority has already been set up in shadow form, with an interim CEO appointed, he added.
“Affected loved ones”, including partners, parents, siblings, children and “friends and family who have acted as carers” will also “be able to apply for compensation in their own right”, Glen confirmed.
Payments will be “tariff-based”, he said, with claimants offered a lump sum or periodical payments, and the government would ensure all claimants could appeal their awards.
He stressed, “time is of the essence” and said “further interim payments of £210,000” would go to “living infected beneficiaries” and those who register before the full scheme is set up within 90 days, starting from the summer.
In response, shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the House of Commons Labour has committed “to work on a cross-party basis to help deliver the compensation scheme”.
He said: “One of the most powerful conclusions in this report is that an apology is only meaningful if it is accompanied by action.”
“Can I also say on Sir Brian Langstaff’s findings on institutional defensiveness, of putting the reputation of people and protecting institutions above public service, this follows on from other scandals such as Hillsborough and Horizon?
“It is why we must deliver a duty of candour and also the political leadership that we need to replace that culture of defensiveness with openness and transparency.”
While Liberal Democrat cabinet office spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “Our thoughts today are with the victims and their families that have been devastated by this scandal.
“The government must now deliver compensation in a timely manner and ensure the process is fully transparent and waste no more time.”