‘We are still waiting for justice': Infected blood victims call on PM to act
The Prime Minister has been challenged to give assurances to victims of the infected blood scandal that their 'suffering will not be dragged out further' amid ongoing concerns around the compensation scheme.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, campaigners have highlighted the 'physical and emotional burden' of the 'continual fight for fair compensation'.
Campaigners handed their letter in to 10 Downing Street on the anniversary of the seminal report into the scandal.
The Infected Blood Inquiry concluded that the scandal 'could largely have been avoided' and there was a 'pervasive' cover-up to hide the truth.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.
And more than 3,000 people have died as a result while survivors are living with lifelong health implications.
A compensation scheme was announced the day after the report was published.
Thank you to the Infected Blood Inquiry and all those who gave and listened to the evidence given last week.
Hearing from community members directly is essential to IBCA, and we continue to work with the community to shape and improve the compensation service. https://t.co/39Ovf7ADTs
— David Foley (@IBCA_CEO_UK) May 15, 2025
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority has said, as of May 6, 106 compensation payments have been made, totalling more than £96 million.
But concerns have been raised about the scheme, leading to the inquiry holding special hearings to highlight the impact on victims.
The new letter states: 'The physical and emotional burden of this continual fight for fair compensation is falling with ever greater weight on the shoulders of those who have already had to campaign for too long.'
'We look to the Government now for recognition of the anxiety and stress the last 12 months of uncertainty have caused and for an assurance that this suffering will not be dragged out further,' adds the letter, which has been co-signed by officials from the Haemophilia Society; Tainted Blood; Haemophilia Wales; Haemophilia Northern Ireland and Tainted Blood – Affected Siblings And Children.
Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said: 'A year ago, the Infected Blood Inquiry published its devastating report into the multiple failings that led to the contaminated blood scandal.
'The inquiry gave us the truth but we're still waiting for justice.
'Until everyone impacted by this scandal receives fair compensation, there can be no justice.
'Nor can justice be achieved without learning the lessons set out so compellingly in the Infected Blood Inquiry's report.
'The steps taken towards implementing the inquiry's recommendations are welcome but there is a long road ahead.
'We urge the Government to make this a priority for the safety and protection of everyone who uses the NHS today and in the future.'
It comes as the Terrance Higgins Trust wrote to inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff highlighting concerns over the compensation scheme.
'We are witnessing a marked increase in both the frequency and intensity of distress among those we support,' the letter from charity chief executive Richard Angell states.
The letter adds: 'The victims we work with – everyone with HIV – should not be burdened with further bureaucratic hurdles – such as having to prove diagnoses like 'full-blown AIDS' – nearly two decades of HIV without treatment should speak for itself.
'Their claims are among the most straightforward and should be prioritised accordingly.'
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said: 'We are acting on the inquiry's 12 recommendations, so that this never happens again, and to get justice for victims.
'While no amount of compensation will make up for the suffering people have endured, we are committed to delivering compensation as swiftly as possible.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
19 minutes ago
- Scotsman
warning signs of Victorian era STI
There is concern after the latest data showed cases of syphilis had continued to rise 🏥 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) has published its latest data on sexually transmitted infections (STI). Concerningly cases of syphilis, an STI most commonly associated with the Victorian era have continued to rise. If left untreated, syphilis can cause serious and potentially life-threatening complications. Cases of a Victorian era sexually transmitted infection (STI), are continuing to increase, latest data from the UKHSA has shown. Syphilis, is an STI that was once believed to be a thing of the past, however, cases are 'concerningly' on the rise in 2024, compared to 2023. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Overall, there was a 2% rise (9,535) in diagnoses of early-stage syphilis in 2024 compared to 2023 (9,375), whilst 'concerningly', figures rose to 5% for late-stage syphilis, increasing from 12,456 in 2023 to 13,030 in 2024. If left untreated, syphilis can cause serious, irreversible and potentially life-threatening problems with your brain, heart, or nerves. Dr Hamish Mohammed, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: 'Levels of STIs in this country remain a big threat to sexual wellbeing. These infections can have a major impact on your health and that of any sexual partners, particularly if they are antibiotic resistant. 'If you've had condomless sex with new or casual partners, either in the UK or overseas, get tested for STIs and HIV at least yearly, even if you don't have symptoms. Regular testing protects both you and those you're having sex with.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad New data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that syphilis cases have continued to rise. |What is syphilis? Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), that is passed on through unprotected sexual contact. Most commonly associated with the Victorian era, it is still prevalent, with cases 'concerningly', continue to rise in the UK. What are the symptoms of syphilis? Symptoms of syphilis can take up to three weeks to appear after being infected. They can be mild and come and go, but the infection will remain and you will be able to pass it on. This is why if you suspect you have syphilis or have symptoms it's important to get tested. The NHS explain symptoms of syphilis include: small sores (ulcers) on your penis, vagina, or around your bottom (anus) sores in other areas, including in your mouth or on your lips, hands or bottom white or grey warty growths most commonly on your penis, vagina or around your anus a rash on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet that can sometimes spread all over your body white patches in your mouth flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, headaches and tiredness swollen glands patchy hair loss on the head, beard and eyebrows Who is at risk of syphilis? You are at risk of syphilis if you have unprotected sexual contact (vaginal, anal or oral), with someone who is infected with syphilis. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The STI can also be passed onto unborn babies or can spread through injecting drugs with a needle that has been used by someone who is infected, in very rare cases it can also be passed on through blood or organ transplants, although in the UK all blood and organ donations are checked for syphilis. How is syphilis treated? Syphilis is treated with antibiotics, it's important not to engage in sexual contact until you have completed your treatment and had a test that has confirmed you are over the infection. If you have a partner, do not have sexual contact until they have also been treated and a test has confirmed they no longer have syphilis. If left untreated, syphilis can cause serious, irreversible and potentially life-threatening problems with your brain, heart, or nerves. This is why it's so important to seek treatment as soon as you suspect you have been exposed or have symptoms. STI testing is free, confidential and can be accessed through local sexual health clinics, your GP surgery, university and college medical centres or through self-sampling kits which can be sent discreetly through the post .
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Labour pledges to lower A&E waiting times and end NHS ‘corridor care'
The government has pledged to drastically reduce the number of patients facing long waits in A&E, with plans also set out to end "corridor care". According to the Department of Health and NHS England, almost £450 million will be invested in creating better care and more facilities, with an emphasis on caring for people closer to their homes. The new Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for England states that more needs to be done to drive down long waits, cut delayed discharges, and improve care for patients. An earlier version of the document said NHS trusts would need to show how, by this winter, systems will "improve flow through hospitals, with a particular focus on patients waiting over 12 hours, and eliminate corridor care". The later version does not commit to a timescale for ending corridor care, instead stating that systems must "improve flow through hospitals, with a particular focus on reducing patients waiting over 12 hours and making progress on eliminating corridor care". Ministers have also set an ambition for a minimum of 78% of patients who attend A&E to be admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours, up from the current 75%, meaning "over 800,000 people a month will receive more timely care". There will also be a focus on seeing more children. The Government wants to slash the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for a hospital bed – or to be discharged from A&E – so this occurs 'less than 10% of the time', according to the new document. Around 1.7 million attendances at A&E every year currently exceed this time frame. Further measures in the plan are intended to drive down delayed discharges from hospital, which occur when people are medically fit to leave but care in their homes or community has not yet been put in place. Local performance targets will be set to improve patient discharge times, and 'eliminate internal discharge delays of more than 48 hours in all settings', the plan said. Experts said A&E 'league tables' will be published to drive up performance. Those patients who need an overnight emergency admission will also have their overall stay reduced where appropriate – the average is 'currently nearly a day longer than in 2019'. The plan further sets out how ambulance waiting times for category 2 patients – such as those suffering stroke, heart attack, sepsis or major trauma – will be cut by more than 14%, from 35 to 30 minutes. A previous target of 18 minutes has been repeatedly missed. In the document, there is an aim to 'eradicate' last winter's lengthy ambulance handover delays by meeting a maximum 45-minute target for patients to be handed over to A&E. This should help 'get 550,000 more ambulances back on the road for patients', it says. According to the document, around 40 new same day emergency care and urgent treatment centres will also be established to treat and discharge patients the same day, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital. Almost 500 new ambulances will also be rolled out across the country by March 2026. The plan details 15 mental health crisis assessment centres, which are designed to ensure mentally ill people do not have to wait in A&E for hours for care. It comes after the NHS experienced a crisis over winter, with patients waiting hours for beds and regularly being treated in corridors – so-called corridor care. A&E waiting time targets have not been met for more than a decade, while the 18-minute target for category 2 ambulance calls has never been hit outside the pandemic. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'No patient should ever be left waiting for hours in hospital corridors or for an ambulance which ought to arrive in minutes. 'We can't fix more than a decade of underinvestment and neglect overnight. 'But through the measures we're setting out today, we will deliver faster and more convenient care for patients in emergencies. 'Far too many patients are ending up in A&E who don't need or want to be there, because there isn't anywhere else available. 'Because patients can't get a GP appointment, which costs the NHS £40, they end up in A&E, which costs around £400 – worse for patients and more expensive for the taxpayer. 'The package of investment and reforms we are announcing today will help the NHS treat more patients in the community, so they don't end up stuck on trolleys in A&E.' Under the plans, paramedics will play a bigger role in the community, with patients given 'more effective treatment at the scene of an accident or in their own homes from ambulance crews'. More patients will also be seen by urgent community response teams in their own homes to try to avoid hospital admission. The NHS is also pledging better use of virtual wards, where patients are monitored by hospital staff from their home, and there are plans to drive up vaccination rates among NHS staff to help protect patients. The Liberal Democrats claimed the Government had listened to their calls to end corridor care, but called on ministers to follow through on their promises. Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: 'Patients have heard these kinds of promises before only to be led up the garden path. 'We can't bear any more of the shameful neglect and failed delivery that we saw for a decade under the Conservatives. 'It's good to see ministers finally listen to Liberal Democrat demands to end corridor care but the misery in our A&Es will only be prolonged if they continue to move at a snail's pace on social care. 'Until they grasp this nettle, millions are at risk of dangerously long waits in A&E. 'They must see sense and conclude their review into social care by the end of this year.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Major HIV breakthrough forces hidden fragments of the virus to emerge so it can be cleared from the body
Experts could have found a way to be one step closer to curing HIV for good. Researchers in Australia has developed a new treatment that forces hidden fragments of the virus - normally concealed within human cells - to emerge and expose themselves to the immune system. The breakthrough could enable the body, aided by antiviral drugs, to detect and destroy any lingering viral reservoirs. HIV has remained incurable because the virus can integrate itself into a cell's DNA, laying dormant and undetectable to both medication and immune defenses. Scientists said they've created a nanoparticle capable of delivering genetic instructions to infected cells, prompting them to produce a signal that reveals the virus's presence. Dr Paula Cevaal of the Doherty Institute and co-author of the study told The Guardian that the feat was 'previously thought impossible'. Cevaal said: 'In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic, that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality. 'But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus. 'So, from that point of view, we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.' The discovery was first revealed in the journal Nature Communications, where researchers said they were initially so astonished that they had to rerun the tests. Further research would be needed to determine whether revealing the virus would be enough to trigger an immune response, with tests only being carried out in the lab. It could still take years before clinical trials for the drug began, when it would have to go through rigorous testing before reaching consumers. However, the advance represents another step forward for the 1.2 million Americans currently living with an HIV infection - for which they took drugs daily. An estimated 31,800 people were believed to be infected every year, although that's a 12 per cent decline on five years ago. Globally, nearly 40 million people have the virus. The new nanoparticle's based on mRNA technology, the same as was used in covid vaccines made by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers. In their paper, the scientists revealed that they could deliver mRNA instructions to cells using the nanoparticle. The mRNA then instruct cells to generate substances that reveal the presence of HIV, but only if the virus was present. The study done in the laboratory was carried out in cells donated by HIV patients.
