More blood victims die without compensation

More victims of the infected blood scandal will die without ever receiving full compensation, a government minister said.

The General Paymaster General Nick Thomas Symonds issued a special meeting of the public investigation in the so-called catastrophe of NHS history.

It is believed that 30,000 patients in Great Britain have been infected with HIV or hepatitis B and C after they were treated with a contaminated blood clot product or a blood transfusion in the 1970s and 80s were given.

Mr. Thomas Symonds agreed that it was “deeply unsatisfactory” that almost a year after the publication of a damn report on the scandal, only 106 final compensation prices were paid.

“I will never think that this is satisfactory until everyone has received the due compensation,” said the minister of the cabinet office.

“The goal should be absolutely to pay [people] as soon as possible. “

A final report over the past year, which was published last year, showed that the catastrophe could largely be avoided if the health authorities had made different decisions at that time.

The report states that too little was done to stop the import of contaminated blood products from abroad in the 1970s and 80s, and there were indications that elements of the scandal had been covered up.

Last month, the chairman of the public investigation, Sir Brian Langstaff, ordered two days with additional hearings after he had received “letter according to letter, e -mail according to e -mail” in which concerns about the way the government's remuneration system was managed.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves included GBP 11.8 billion in the last budget to obtain victims and her family members. However, the latest figures show that less than 1% of this total number, around 97 million GBP, have been paid out.

Survivors of the scandal and some survivors have also received a number of smaller intermediate compensation payments in the past three years.

Eleven victims and their representatives gave evidence in an emotional panel meeting in front of an audience of around 300 people in Westminster.

Andrew Evans, chairman of the campaign group spoiled, told the hearing that many victims and their families “betrayed and disappointed”.

“People have given up the expectation of receiving something,” he said.

“You have lost all hope of ever getting justice, and we can't do it for long.”

Other witnesses criticized the way individuals contacted and “invited” to report to claim final compensation, and described them as “waiting for their lottery ticket”.

Gary Webster, a hemophilic that was infected with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s, when a student at the Treloar School in Hampshire said “[some] People will not get their compensation and many claims will die with them. “

“It's just too slow and the people won't get justice they earn,” he added.

According to the current rules, a final award can be passed on to your relatives via your estate if someone dies with HIV or hepatitis B or C before receiving full compensation.

The compensation can also be asserted by the people affected by the scandal – a partner, siblings or parents of a child – for the separate effects on his life.

And if you die before this compensation, your claim will die with you and cannot be passed on.

In the later survey later a day, Mr. Thomas Symond, who heads the government's reaction, said that he was “restless for further progress in payments”.

The infected Blood damage authority (IBCA), an independent body that was set up to pay the victims of the scandal, expects the “mass” of the awards to be received to infected survivors by the end of 2027, with most of those affected, such as B. Family members and nurses will be paid by the end of 2029.

Mr. Thomas Symonds said that he saw this timeline more as a “backstop” than as a goal that you can work towards.

“The logic is that there may be other people who have not yet reported in this phase [to claim]”, he said.

“I have never been anything else than clear that they are absolute baking tops and I expect these payments to accelerate [in the future]. “