Infected and affected victims of the contaminated blood scandal have welcomed recommendations from a senior former High Court judge calling on the Government to set up a full compensation system by the end of the year.
Sir Brian Langstaff, who leads the independent public inquiry into the scandal which saw thousands infected with lethal viruses on the NHS, has published an interim report highlighting the need for an organisation to be set up to pay compensation "with minimum delay".
In response, Jesmond's Carol Grayson - who lost husband Peter to HIV and hepatitis caused by tainted blood products he was given to treat his haemophilia - said it was a "relief" to see the losses and pain the haemophilia community has suffered recognised - though she said she was saddened that parents of those to have lost loved ones but since died, like her own in-laws, were not mentioned.
And Northumberland's Sean Cavens - who contracted hepatitis through tainted blood given to him to treat haemophilia as a child in Scotland - echoed this, and thanked "our dead and our living" for years of campaigning. Sean said it was a "massive day" and asked whether the Government had the "political will" to act.
However the Government has responded by saying the "shared objective" of itself and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is "to be able to respond quickly when the inquiry’s final report is published in the autumn".
Sir Brian Langstaff said in his report: "It is now accepted that wrongs have been done. The Government was absolutely right to accept this. My conclusion is that wrongs were done on individual, collective and systemic levels. Not only do the infections themselves and their consequences merit compensation, but so do the wrongs done by the way in which authority responded to what had happened.
"Accordingly, a compensation scheme must provide appropriate redress to all those who have been wronged. Time without redress is harm."
Last year, the Government heeded Sir Brian's call to pay interim compensation to some groups of those impacted by what has become known as the NHS's "biggest ever treatment disaster". His new recommendations also expand the scope of those who would be compensated - including the families of children who have died due to the scandal.
Carol said she would be reading the interim report carefully and speaking with her legal team but added: "There are many positive aspects from Sir Brian Langstaff and I thank him for his recommendations and compassion for those infected and affected. It is a relief that the multiple losses and extreme pain and suffering of the haemophilia community are recognized and that it is noted that infections should and could have been avoided.
"I am pleased that parents and children are now to receive an interim payment of £100,000 though saddened and disappointed that parents who died waiting for justice are not being recognised in the same way. My mother-in-law Alice cared for her son Stephen until his death age 20 from AIDS in 1986 and my father in law died of a heart attack whilst campaigning for justice.
"He was one of the first parents to bravely go on record regarding the blood scandal in a documentary produced by First Tuesday at a time when discrimination was rife and their home was daubed with abusive anti-AIDS slogans as highlighted in the film. They were utterly broken having watched their youngest son die in the most horrific of circumstances and fearing their oldest son would soon follow."
However Carol said she was pleased the recommendations - if adopted - would see children such as her stepson compensated for the loss of parents. She added she was also happy that "my promise to his father Pete, my beloved husband and soulmate, to “deal with unfinished business” has now been honoured".
She maintained her call for the Government to apologise for using so-called "dumped treatment" in the UK.
Sean added: "Sir Brian has certainly put it to Government that it’s in their interests to resolve this quickly. Overall, I can’t find anything within the report to be unhappy about. A huge thank you to all involved, our dead and our living who have campaigned and fought so hard to get the inquiry and to allow us to get to this point of the recommendations.
"I’m delighted that we finally have on record the recommendations to recognise those young bairns - which I could and maybe should have been one - who lost their lives, whose parents will now receive recompense as well as children of those who lost parents. It’s a massive day."
Sean also highlighted that the the strength of Sir Brian's language - he has spoken today of the need to "make amends as a nation" and of how "wrong has been done on individual, collective and systemic levels". Sean said these were "words we hoped for" but had not ever been sure of hearing. He added: "We now await the response from Government. Does this Government have the political will to act?"
A Government spokesperson said: “The infected blood scandal should never have happened. Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report will help the UK Government and devolved administrations to meet our shared objective to be able to respond quickly when the inquiry’s final report is published in the autumn.
“We thank the chair and the inquiry team for this detailed interim report and the Government is continuing preparations for responding to the final report when it is published.”
The final report is due to conclude the public inquiry and be published towards the end of this year.
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