Inquiry hears of ‘anguish’ over compensation for infected blood victims

7 May 2025, 16:04

People given infected blood and blood products in one of the worst treatment disasters in NHS history have described "anguish" felt while waiting for compensation.

The Infected Blood Inquiry has heard that many victims fear they will not live to receive compensation, with people affected by the scandal saying they feel "betrayed and disappointed".

But campaigners insisted that they will "have justice" as hearings reopened into the scandal.

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Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry, is holding two days of special hearings to examine the "timeliness and adequacy of the Government's response to compensation".

Opening the hearing, Sir Brian said: "The decision to hold these further hearings was not taken lightly.

"It is no secret that the Inquiry has received letter after letter, email after email, call after call, expressing worries and concerns about how compensation is being delivered.

"The slowness and uncertainty about when someone might expect to receive compensation are central kernels. They are not, however, the only ones. These matters need to be explored in public."

He added: "The Inquiry will do everything in its power to identify action that can be taken by the Government and by the infected blood in compensation authority to improve the delivery of compensation and to ensure that justice is done."

Groups representing people infected and affected by the scandal and people infected themselves gave evidence on Wednesday morning.

Andrew Evans, from the campaign group Tainted Blood, told the hearing: "We have around 2,100 members, all of whom are in a desperate state at the moment since the announcement of the Government's compensation package and things that have unfolded since."

Mr Evans, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products during treatment for haemophilia as a child, shared a quote from one of the members of the Tainted Blood group.

"I'm utterly exhausted," he read.

"The anguish is beyond words. I just want this over."

He said that victims have been left feeling "betrayed and disappointed" adding: "People have given up on any expectation of receiving anything.

"They have lost all hope of ever getting justice."

Mr Evans added: "It's a long-held feeling that governments wish to drag the scandal out in order that the longer it goes on, the more people die and the less compensation will need to be paid."

Gary Webster, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C when he attend Lord Mayor's Treloar School in Hampshire (Treloar's) in the 1970s and 80s, said his experience with the compensation scheme had been a "nightmare".

The 60-year-old said: "I've asked around the Trealor's boys that are amongst us now and their families about how they think the process is going, and the words they come back with were: 'Despicable, distraught, hoodwinked, betrayed, hurt, forgotten'.

"People will not get their compensation and a lot of claims will die with them.

"It's just too slow, and people won't get the justice they deserve."

Campaigner Carolyn Challis was infected with hepatitis C when she received blood transfusions during chemotherapy treatment for lymphatic cancer between 1992 and 1993.

The mother-of-three from North Devon said: "We feel gaslit, marginalised and abused by successive governments that purport to care, but evidently do not.

"We're suffering from sustained trauma. We should not still be fighting."

Nigel Hamilton, chairman of Haemophilia Northern Ireland, added: "We are entitled to justice and we will have justice."

Alan Burgess, a campaigner who was co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C while receiving treatment for haemophilia, said: "I can't believe we are back here today."

When asked about the quality of engagement from the Cabinet Office and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), Mr Burgess said: "I'd like to say that they engaged with us, but they didn't.

"They talked down to us. They were condescending. They had a scripted answer for everything we had.

"To be honest with you, it's almost a waste of time being there - they weren't going to take any notice of what we said."

He also told the hearing victims were dying while the process was ongoing, with one of his friends dying just weeks ago.

Mary Grindley, who has been campaigning for 45 years, told the inquiry engagement from the Government has been a "tick-box exercise", adding: "In reality, the decisions have been made behind closed doors."

The grandmother gave up teaching in 1991 to look after her husband, John, who contracted HIV and hepatitis C while receiving treatment for haemophilia who died from Aids in 1994 at the age of 41.

Mrs Grindley, now 76, said: "There are widows who have died who will now get no compensation... I think this is disgraceful."

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.

Some 3,000 people died as a result and survivors are living with lifelong health implications.

In her October budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves allocated £11.8 billion to compensate victims, administered by the IBCA.

As of April 24, some 475 people have been invited to make a claim and 77 payments have been made totalling more than £78 million, according to IBCA figures.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has been called to give evidence on Wednesday afternoon while Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) officials will be quizzed by inquiry lawyers on Thursday.