Ministers accepted the urgent need to make the £100,000 payments to around 3,000 surviving victims after being warned that those accidentally infected with HIV and hepatitis C were dying at a rate of one every four days. However, parents and children of the victims accused the government of perpetuating the scandal by failing to acknowledge their own trauma and loss in today’s announcement. Contaminated blood products given in the 1970s and 1980s to up to 6,000 people have already led to the deaths of more than 2,400 people in the biggest treatment scandal in NHS history. The government said it plans to make payments to those infected and bereaved partners in England by the end of October. The same payments will be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Announcing the plan, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: “While nothing can replace the pain and suffering suffered by those affected by this tragic injustice, we are taking action to do right by the victims and those who have tragically lost their partners . ensuring that they receive these interim payments as soon as possible. “We will continue to stand with all those affected by this horrific tragedy and I want to personally pay tribute to all those who fought so resolutely for justice.” The interim payments were proposed to help remaining survivors “set their affairs in order before they die” by Sir Robert Francis as part of his report in March on how to compensate victims and their families. Both survivors and their families will have to wait until the current investigation into tainted blood is completed to implement a full compensation system as recommended by Francis. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Keith Malthouse said: “These interim payments will start the process of providing that certainty. My priority is to get the money to these people as quickly as possible.” Last month, the chairman of the inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff, called for payments of at least £100,000 to be made “without delay”. The new lump sum will be made through the existing financial support schemes for survivors and bereaved partners set up in 2017 in England and the devolved administrations. But these systems exclude victims’ parents, siblings and children. Earlier this month, the inquiry wrote to these families, informing them they would be absent for the time being because “the practical way to make payments quickly is to do so through existing support schemes”. An email from the deputy secretary of inquiry urged families to be patient. He said: “It is difficult to ask people who have experienced a painful loss and have waited so long to wait longer, but try to bear in mind that this recommendation is not the end of the inquiry’s work and the issue of compensation has not been resolved in the report of the inquiry into interim payments.’ Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors, which is representing 1,500 of the victims, said: “We will continue to put pressure on the government until everyone who is entitled to their lost loved ones is fully compensated.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He added: “We await clarification from the Government in the coming days on how and when the payments will be processed and, more generally, whether the remaining recommendations of Sir Robert Francis QC will be accepted and full compensation will be paid to all those entitled including the deceased and the assets of the deceased.” Survivors welcomed the cash as the government’s first acknowledgment of guilt, but called for the scheme to be widened. Richard Warwick, 57, from Scarborough was infected with HIV and hepatitis C in contaminated treatments given to him as a student at Treloar College, a school specializing in the care of haemophiliacs. He told the inquest that of the 89 students infected at the school, he is one of only 16 survivors. Speaking to the Guardian, he said: “This is just the beginning of the road to getting meaningful compensation. It is an absolute shame that the government took so long to admit it was wrong. And I am deeply saddened that bereaved parents and bereaved children are not included in the payment plan. It is so unfair.” Richard Warwick, pictured aged 11, contracted hepatitis C and HIV at Treloar College after being given contaminated blood products. Photo: Provided He accused the government of penny pinching. “They have been suspended as long as they can simply because the more that die the less they will have to pay in the end, so the scandal continues.” He added: “No amount of money will bring our lives back. I was unable to advance in any meaningful career. I couldn’t get a mortgage or life insurance. And we lost our family – we lost our only child because of the risk of HIV. And I’ve spent countless years in the hospital.”
