Contaminated blood victims suffering further because of compensation delays, finds report
COMPO DELAY INSULT Contaminated blood victims suffering further because of compensation delays, finds report
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
CONTAMINATED blood victims are enduring further suffering because of compensation delays, a report has found.
Sir Brian Langstaff — who last year called the NHS scandal the worst medical cover-up in British history — now says help for patients and their families has been 'profoundly unsatisfactory'.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
More than 30,000 people were infected with viruses such as HIV and hepatitis after clinics used high-risk blood donors in the 1970s and '80s.
Ministers last year set up an £11.8billion fund but so far just £300million has been paid out.
Campaigners estimate 100 people have died waiting since Sir Brian's 2024 report.
Yesterday, Sir Brian, chair of the official Infected Blood Inquiry, blasted: 'I did not expect that the inquiry would have to issue a further report, because I hoped — indeed, expected — there would be no need for one.'
He said: 'The UK Government has known for years that compensation was inevitable, and identified many who should have it.
"But only 460 have so far received compensation and many more have not even been allowed to start the process.'
He found the Infected Blood Compensation Authority set up its scheme without working directly with victims.
And he added: 'For decades, people who suffered because of infected blood have not been listened to.
"Once again, decisions are being made behind closed doors, leading to obvious injustice.
'It's not too late to get this right.
'Seismic' moment as infected blood scandal report is published
"We are calling for compensation to be made faster and, more than that, fairer.'
Richard Angell, of charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: 'Those impacted by this tragedy have endured unimaginable suffering.'
Kate Burt, from the Haemophilia Society, added: 'This failure is exhausting, damaging and is stripping this community of its dignity.'
The Government said: 'We are taking action to enable a quicker compensation process.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Ultimate guide to having your best sex EVER in middle-age: Top doctor's medically-backed advice for women on how to treat the hurdles stopping you having an incredible love life
It is a claim that will, undoubtedly, raise eyebrows – or, even more likely, make eyes roll with faint boredom. But hear me out – British women in midlife are not having enough sex. And, in my view as a women's health GP, we need to be having more. Women aged 55 to 64 report the least sexual activity of any age group, a recent study from researchers at University College London found.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Brit, 20, breaks her back after fall from hotel balcony on Greek island… docs say it'll be 2 MONTHS before she can move
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help bring her back home HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE Brit, 20, breaks her back after fall from hotel balcony on Greek island… docs say it'll be 2 MONTHS before she can move Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A YOUNG Welsh woman is in hospital after falling from a second-floor hotel balcony and breaking her back. The nightmare incident happened on the popular holiday island of Rhodes in Greece. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 She suffered fractured four vertebrae and remains in hospital Credit: GoFundMe 4 Holly had been on holiday with her partner when the accident happened Credit: Gofundme Holly Seaford, 20, had been on holiday with her partner when the accident happened on Wednesday, July 9 in the early hours. She suffered fractured four vertebrae and remains in hospital while she recovers, Wales Online has reported. But doctors have told her partner Tate Crees that Holly may have to wait as long as two months before she can walk again. Tate said: "She is lying flat in a hospital bed in a back brace unable to move or walk. "Doctors have told us it'll be at least six to eight weeks before she can start to regain mobility. "This is going to be a very difficult process." Holly and Tate had been due to fly back from holiday on the day the of the incident. But Holly's sister Briony has said the family can't afford to get her back home by themselves. She said: "She's in a lot of pain and is bedbound. "The last I heard they'd given her paracetamol. They can't effectively look after her there." Raging wildfires spread across Greek island holiday hotspot as hotels and homes are 'evacuated' A GoFundMe page has been set up to help bring Holly back home for further medical attention. Tate added: "Medical repatriation is incredibly expensive — especially as the only way Holly can fly home is on a stretcher. "Requiring, a specialist medical flight with trained staff to monitor her throughout the journey. "Unfortunately, this is not covered by insurance." 4 Daytime, Anthony Quinn Bay, Kallithea, Rhodes, Greece Credit: Getty 4 Famous tourist attraction – Acropolis of Lindos Credit: Getty It comes after a 22-year-old Brit holidaymaker was injured after falling off a boat in Magaluf. He is said to have been drinking on the rented boat before falling and cutting himself. The Brit was taken to Son Espases Hospital in the Majorcan capital Palma. Elsewhere, another Brit tourist died from severe head injuries after falling from a window in the Netherlands. Ben Roberts, 24, suffered a fractured skull when he fell His mother Kerry said: "I can't describe our loss, we are heartbroken. "As Ben's mum, part of me died the day he did."
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Doctors' strike: hospitals face bill of £4,000 a shift
Hospitals face having to pay consultants up to £4,000 for extra shifts covering trainee doctor strikes planned for later this month. The British Medical Association (BMA) has relaunched its rate card that sets out the levels of pay senior doctors should demand when they work extra shifts or are asked to fill in. It is part of the BMA's dispute with the government and threatens to land hospitals with costly bills. Many hospital trusts are already cutting jobs and trying to save millions in an effort to shrink a £2 billion spending black hole this year. Resident doctors are planning a full five-day walkout from 7am on Friday, July 25, after Wes Streeting refused to negotiate any increase to the 5.4 per cent pay increase for resident doctors this year. In the previous rounds of strikes doctors took 44 days of action, including eight separate walkouts in 2023. An internal report from NHS England reveals the impact on thousands of cancer and heart patients, as well as sick babies and mothers needing a caesarean section. Separate documents shared with BMA members last year, before they agreed to end strikes and receive a 28.9 per cent pay rise, show the association's resident doctor committee was always preparing for the possibility of further industrial action. They outline the union's 'bank and build' approach to take the deal and then push for more. Streeting, the health secretary, has said that if this month's five-day strike goes ahead he may not be able to prevent job losses given the tight financial constraints on the NHS. • Public turning against 'unjustifiable' doctor strike, poll shows During the strikes, consultants will be able to increase their pay significantly. Their basic starting salary is £109,000 for a 40-hour week but, according to the BMA rate card, a consultant asked to work a weekend night shift in London should demand £334 an hour, or £4,008 per 12-hour shift. Outside London, consultants are advised the minimum they should accept for a weekday shift between 7am and 7pm is £188 per hour, or £2,256. A weekend day shift outside London would earn them £3,000 and a weekend night shift would bring in £3,756. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, said budgets were 'squeezed' and hospitals were having to make tough choices on what they could afford. 'Trusts are already having to make significant savings this year, and NHS leaders will be very worried if they are forced to use their scarce resources to pay higher rates to cover medical shifts, particularly during prolonged strikes by resident doctors,' he said. The BMA's 'bank and build' strategy document shows that last year's deal was viewed by union leaders only as 'an initial step' on its longer campaign to restore pay back to what the union claims it was worth in 2008. Insiders say the strategy was modelled on the actions of the RMT railway union and shows that there was nearly ten months of preparation before the current dispute. The RMT has regularly held strikes in long-running disputes with train operators and Transport for London, leading to Tube drivers' pay rising by 34 per cent in the decade to 2022. The BMA document says: 'This strategy will be adopted in full should the current offer be accepted by the membership via a referendum. 'Bank and build' is an industrial strategy used by unions to lock in progress either while pursuing an ambitious industrial objective or defending a previously obtained win that their employers may seek to reverse. 'In both these scenarios, the union is likely to require industrial action that is sustainedand escalated.' The document describes how the BMA planned to use the ten months from the deal being accepted to re-engage doctors over the issues of pay. Activism would be encouraged on the ground in hospitals with events such as 'pizza and pay' sessions, where union reps would meet doctors and encourage them to support any strike. As part of the strategy, the BMA set a threshold for starting a new dispute by saying only that any new pay offer had to be 'sufficient'. It argues the latest 5.4 per cent does not meet that goal, despite it being the highest in the public sector. The impact of eight separate strikes by trainee doctors in 2023 was examined by NHS England and reported to its board's quality sub-committee. The report, dated December 2023, and obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, details how the walkouts led to thousands of cancer and heart operations being delayed. The internal report said: ● 6,500 cancer operations were cancelled, 31 per cent of expected activity. Surgery for fast-growing cancers such as head and neck cancer, upper gastrointestinal, and lung cancers dropped by between a quarter and a third. A delay of just four weeks is linked to an 8 per cent increase in the chance of death, the report said.● There were delays to urgent admissions to neonatal care due to the availability of doctors as well as delays to elective caesarean sections and urgent inductions.● Heart surgery dropped by almost 10 per cent in 20 out of 28 cardiac centres and urgent heart operations fell by 13 per cent.● 148 corneal transplant operations were cancelled and there was a 42 per cent fall in other eye operations.● In mental health hospitals patients faced long delays to be discharged, admitted, assessed or have their medication reviewed. The report said strikes had caused 'a significant unavoidable impact' on planned surgery, adding: 'Medical research overall is clear an increase in waiting times for elective care can cause harm, and in many specialties the risk of delays to emergency and urgent care is well-evidenced.' Dr Tom Dolphin, the BMA's chairman, said keeping patients safe during strikes was 'very important' to the union and it would look to agree a series of derogations, where doctors return to work in the event of safety concerns being raised with NHS England. He added: 'Achieving full pay restoration has been BMA policy since 2022 and the 'bank and build' strategy, developed last year and a recognised industrial strategy, is phase two of the campaign to achieve full pay restoration for resident doctors in England and something the government has been aware of since its inception last year.' • Who is the BMA leader behind new wave of doctor strikes? Dolphin defended the extra pay for consultants covering shifts, arguing the 4 per cent pay offer for consultants this year was 'another real-terms pay cut'. 'The rates vary depending on time of day but reflect that this is additional work, done by our most expert clinicians, out of choice,' he said. NHS England said: 'It is really disappointing that further strike action has been announced. We have, of course, begun preparations for limiting, as far as possible, the impact industrial action might have on patient care, whilst recognising that disruption to services is sadly inevitable if this action goes ahead.'
