Infected blood scandal uk live: Report into worst NHS disaster could lead to prosecutions

A public inquiry into the long-running infected blood scandal is due to publish its findings today, with a compensation scheme running into the billions thought to be amongst recommendations.

The latest evidence submitted to the inquiry suggests that nearly 2,000 of victims are living with undetected hepatitus C as a result of the scandal.

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The blood service in England is “now one of the safest in the world,” NHS officials have said as the Infected Blood Inquiry has published its final report.

The probe, one of the largest ever in the UK, examined how people received contaminated blood and blood products in the 1970s through to the early 1990s.

Publication of the inquiry could cause concern among people in need of blood now, but NHS officials have described how things are “very different” today.

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Contaminated blood victims said they are living with survivor’s guilt as their lives “continue to be blighted” by the lasting effects of the worst scandal in NHS history.

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John Glen, the Cabinet Office minister dealing with the scandal on behalf of the government, told Times Radio this morning that the government would not be giving full details of the compensation package today.

However, he did not rule out the report leading to criminal proceedings being brought against some of the perpetrators.

Asked if people might be taken to court, Glen told LBC: “If there’s clear evidence and there is a pathway to that, then it’s obviously something the government will have to address. I can’t be sure, but we’ve got to give these people justice.”

The contaminated blood scandal has been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis through contaminated blood and blood products in the 1970s and early 1990s.

Many had bleeding disorders, particularly people with haemophilia who had a shortage of clotting agent Factor VIII, while others were infected through receiving blood transfusions during childbirth, surgery or other medical events.

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Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said: “Radical change must result from this inquiry if we are to learn the lessons of the past and protect future generations from harm.

“For the sake of the thousands of people who have died and those whose lives continue to be blighted by this terrible scandal, it is vital that the inquiry’s recommendations are acted upon.”

Richard Angell, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “The publication of the final Infected Blood Inquiry report is a seismic moment for those infected and affected by this scandal who have been vindicated but not yet compensated.

“For victims of the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, who have been fighting for justice for almost five decades, the trauma never stops.”

Hepatitis C is a blood-bourne disease that is passed on through blood-to-blood contact and infects the liver. Without treatment, it can cause serious damage to the liver.

Hepatitis can also occur as a result of a viral infection or liver damage caused by alcohol.

The disease is known as the “silent killer” as some people can live with the virus for many years before realising that they are infected. But the delay in diagnosis can lead to irreparable liver damage.

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Martin Reid from Insch, Aberdeenshire, has described the lifelong impact after being infected with hepatitis C as a child while receiving treatment for his haemophilia.

After treatment, Mr Reid’s hepatitis was cleared in 2011, but he has been left with lasting effects from the virus including anxiety and depression.

“My parents were both distraught about it – they felt a lot of guilt about it, I guess as any parent would,” he said.

The 44-year-old added: “There is something ironically morose about the fact that I tell people that I’m ‘one of the lucky ones’.

“They say: ‘But you’ve got a disease that could have killed you.’

“I say: ‘I consider myself one of the lucky ones that wasn’t infected with HIV, like so many other people were, and I have lived to the age where I have been able to have a family, I am still here. so I do feel like one of the lucky ones.