Infected Blood Inquiry

In terms of the number of Core Participants, the Infected Blood Inquiry is quite literally the biggest Inquiry that the United Kingdom has ever seen. There are in excess of two thousand people and organisations that have been made Core Participants of the inquiry.

The inquiry is examining events that span over a large period of time, from at least the 1970s to the present day and, in fact, the Inquiry has vowed to consider evidence since the inception of the NHS itself which dates back to the 1940s.

The amount of documentation the Inquiry is going to need to consider will be tremendous and will involve examining not only Public Bodies and Medical Institutions but also Pharmaceutical Companies and the commercial sector involved in the Contaminated Blood Scandal.

Hundreds of people who were themselves infected with HIV and/or Hepatitis C, or their bereaved family members have already given evidence. Government Ministers, Civil Servants, Doctors, company executives and many others will continue to be called to give evidence throughout the inquiry. Factor 8 will continue to provide updates on our website and social media platforms as the Inquiry progresses.

Throughout 2019 the first oral evidence sessions took place and throughout the year, some 189 people who were infected or affected gave evidence to the inquiry. Most of the hearing sessions were streamed live via the inquiry’s YouTube channel, except where a witness had specifically asked for this not to be done due to privacy reasons. Hearings were held around the UK in all four nations, however, the majority of hearings took place at the inquiry premises located at Fleetbank House in central London.

In preparation for the 2019 hearings, the Fleetbank House office underwent work so that the inquiry had its own hearing room and facilities on-site. This means that whilst the inquiry has travelled around the country and may do so again in the future, it would appear that it is logistically and technically easier to hold hearings at the inquiries dedicated facilities. For example, during the 2019 hearings outside of London, it became apparent that the inquiry Live Stream encountered, not uncommon, issues (mot likely related to internet connection upload speeds) which did not occur in London.

Later in 2019, the Inquiry expanded its premises to include a second larger room for the public to congregate along with several smaller private rooms.

Following the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Inquiry announced in March that its planned hearings for the year would be suspended. Later, the Infected Blood Inquiry hearings resumed in September. At that time, limited in-person attendance was allowed, however, this was later curtailed by the end of 2020 due to a further coronavirus lockdown.

In-person hearings at the Inquiry did again resume as coronavirus restrictions eased. Until February 2023, when the Inquiry held its final hearings, the Inquiry upheld a policy of mask-wearing and covid testing for those wishing to attend.

On 29th July 2022, Sir Brian Langstaff published an interim report relating to compensation. In his report to the goverment, Langstaff recommended that interim compensation payments of £100,000 should be made to those infected still alive and bereaved partners registered with the existing support scheme. Later that year, the government agreed and implemented Langstaff's recommendation. Payments were received by those eligible in October 2022.

Although this was a welcome step, it also caused much upset because most bereaved families were not eligible for the payment. Some two-thirds of bereaved families were already excluded from existing support schemes and therefore were also excluded from the interim compensation payments issued in 2022.

The reason that most families were excluded rested on the ring fence created by the government, which prevented many from registering for support. Currently, the support schemes only allow those infected or bereaved partners to register. The categories of bereaved families excluded because of this include...

• Where a child or multiple children died (As they were not in, or were too young, to have been in a relationship). We know that, for example, some 300 children were infected with HIV.

• Where an infected person also infected their partner, and both of them died. There are a number of people who were left orphaned as children in these circumstances.

• Where an infected person did not infect their partner, but their partner has since died.

• Where an infected person's relationship broke down or resulted in divorce before they died. This was, sadly, not uncommon in the face of the viruses that people were infected with.

• Where an infected person was not able to form a relationship before they died. This, again, was not uncommon owing to the viruses that people were infected with.

On 5th April 2023, the Inquiry published a second interim report. The second interim report was the Inquiry’s final recommendation on Infected Blood compensation.

The government is yet to respond to the second interim report or to implement any of its recommendations.