Concerns over ‘unethical testing’ payout for infected blood victims
Concerns have been raised over the “ridiculous” compensation payment proposed for people who were the victims of unethical research, including boys who were infected with HIV and hepatitis as schoolchildren.
More than £2 billion has now been paid in compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal.
But a charity has raised “profound concerns” about an element of the payouts for people who were victims of “unethical research”.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College in Hampshire offered specialist care for children with haemophilia.
Pupils undergoing treatment for the disorder were experimented on without their knowledge by NHS clinicians, who knew the dangers it posed.
The Infected Blood Public Inquiry’s report, published in May 2024, said that children with bleeding disorders who attended the school were treated as “objects for research” and were given “multiple, riskier” treatments.
They were offered a one-off £15,000 payment on top of the ongoing support, with a £10,000 award available for others in similar, less notorious cases.
Changes to the payment are currently subject to public consultation.
The Hepatitis C Trust has written to Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds to “express our profound concerns regarding the proposed compensation for victims of unethical research within the infected blood compensation scheme”.
The charity said that the sums are “wholly inadequate”.
“We are very concerned that the current proposals fall far short of delivering justice and risk sending a dangerous message about the value of human life and the integrity of public institutions in the UK,” the letter adds.
“You are more than aware of the immense suffering of the victims of what has been termed ‘unethical research’ – people, most of whom were children, who were deliberately given blood products known to be contaminated with HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
“This was not an accident; it was a conscious decision by medical professionals.”
Signatories, including the charity, and other members of the infected blood community, called for the award to be “fully and transparently reviewed”.
Gary Webster, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C when he attend Treloar’s in the 1970s and 80s, told the Press Association that a revised potential offer of £25,000 was still “way off the mark”.
He added: “How can you offer £25,000 pounds to someone who’s been experimented and researched on, and most of the time killed?
“It’s just ridiculous. It has to be a lot more than what they are offering.”
He said of the 122 haemophiliac boys who attended the college, more than 80 are now dead.
“We were forced, basically to have injections every day,” Mr Webster said.
“At the time, we didn’t know – we were eight, nine, 10, years old – and we just thought the doctors, who were our friends, who used to come and play sports with us in the evening, we thought they were doing good for us.
“Our parents had no knowledge of anything.
“All haemophiliacs throughout the UK were researched and experimented on one way or another, but especially at Treloar’s it was constant.”
Elsewhere the letter also raises concerns over delays to potential criminal investigation into the scandal.
After the inquiry published its findings in May 2024, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) instigated a review to determine whether a national criminal investigation could or should follow.
In December, it said that the review is “ongoing”.
The new letter states: “They (the NPCC) give no timeline for completion. This delay compounds the injustice and erodes public trust.”
Signatories of the letter called for a “clear timeline or decisions on criminal accountability”.
The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.
Published: by Radio NewsHub