Parents who have been bereaved or children who have lost their parents through the infected blood scandal should be entitled to compensation acknowledging their loss, the chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry has said.
It follows the move made in October last year in which the partners of victims and survivors themselves were given compensation payments of £100,000.
The recommendation will come as a huge relief to some families – including parents who lost children and children orphaned when their parents died – who had previously felt their loved ones had been ignored.
The scandal affected the lives of tens of thousands of NHS patients who were unknowingly given contaminated blood products between the 1970s and 1991.
Around 2,400 people who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s died.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry, said the second interim report recognises the deaths of people that “have so far gone unrecognised”.
He has recommended the government should make further interim compensation payments to those affected by the scandal.
“It is a fact that around 380 children with bleeding disorders were infected with HIV. Some of them died in childhood. But their parents have never received compensation,” he said.
“Children who were orphaned as a result of infections transmitted by blood transfusions and blood products have never had their losses recognised. It is time to put this right.”
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But there are some restrictions, with only one interim payment being made per victim.
It is recommended that where someone infected died as an adult without a partner or child, the interim payment should be made to their bereaved parents.
However, if there is a bereaved child, the payment should be made to the child.
Where someone infected has died and there is no bereaved partner nor child nor parent, the payment should be made to the victim’s sibling.
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A compensation scheme has also been earmarked in the report, in addition to these interim payments.
These detailed recommendations are the second to be outlined since the inquiry into the infected blood scandal began in 2018.
Further recommendations made in this report include the immediate need for psychological support for victims’ families and the recognition of chronic Hepatitis B victims.
The government will now review these recommendations, and if approved, the plans will be announced by the Paymaster General.
A government spokesman said: “The infected blood scandal should never have happened.
“Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report will help the UK government and devolved administrations to meet our shared objective to be able to respond quickly when the inquiry’s final report is published in the autumn.
“We thank the chair and the inquiry team for this detailed interim report and the government is continuing preparations for responding to the final report when it is published.”
