The inquiry into infected blood is just the start
Today's report reveals the main failings of the compensation scheme include ministers not listening to victims, leading to 'obvious injustices' that could have been avoided, while compensation delays mean more people will die before they receive any kind of justice. 'Many of you were worried that the fight for justice might not have ended with the publication of the [infected blood scandal] inquiry reported over a year ago,' Langstaff remarked this afternoon. 'Yes, the government announced a compensation scheme and, yes, it is properly funded. But,' he paused, 'just as you feared, this is not the whole story.'
While the latest figures from the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) show that over 2,000 people have been asked to begin their claims, only 460 have been compensated in full and 'many, many more have not even been allowed to begin the process'. More than 3,000 people of the 30,000 given contaminated blood products have already passed away. Starmer's government has set aside £11.8bn for compensation and says it is slashing red tape in attempts to speed up payments, but Langstaff insists that mistakes are still being made.
There are horrific stories of injustice that illustrate the flaws in the current compensation scheme. Currently victims have to be asked to apply for payouts, instead of simply putting forward their case themselves. This of course lengthens wait times and can have dire consequences: not only are direct victims of the scandal dying, delays have taken so long that now their families are too. Richard Angell, the chief of the Terrence Higgins Trust – which aims to end new HIV cases by 2030 – described the case of a family whose young son died thirty years ago of Aids-related illnesses caused by infected blood. 'His father now has dementia. It shouldn't be too much for him to receive compensation whilst he can still remember his son.' Meanwhile controversy has erupted over the compensation cut-off date. A mother explains her daughter was invited to claim a payment – before being turned away as she had been infected before 1982. Another patient told the report: 'It feels as if we are waiting to die, in limbo.'
There have been plenty of recommendations put forward by the inquiry. Priority should be given to those who are seriously ill or older, while victims themselves should be able to apply for compensation rather than wait to be asked. The 1982 cut-off date should be pushed back, and extra payment should be awarded to those patients who found themselves victims of experimentation. And, of course, the inquiry chair has called for a more transparent system that better involves all those affected. Labour has so far been defensive on the issue, with Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds denying on Radio 4's Today programme that the government was 'dragging its heels', insisting he had been 'listening to the voice of victims'.
This latest report comes just a day after the publication of the first report from the Post Office scandal. The devastating findings suggest that more than 13 people may have been driven to suicide by the Horizon IT scandal – while at least 59 more contemplated it over one of the UK's worst miscarriages of justice. These inquiries are only the start, however. The level of public anger at these devastating sagas is hard to overstate, and many parliamentarians across the house have constituents with firsthand experiences of these scandals. It is in the government's interests that the road to compensation is a short one – and this is not yet another case of dither and delay.
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