The public inquiry into the infected blood scandal, known as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, is set to publish its findings.
More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C between 1970 and 1991 through contaminated blood products and transfusions.
Around 3,000 of them have since died – many with hemophiliacs having received infected blood products as part of their treatment.
Chairman Sir Brian Langstaff will present his findings on Monday.
The investigation into infected blood collected testimony between 2019 and 2023.
Two main groups of people were involved in the scandal.
One involved people with hemophilia and those with similar disorders, who suffer from a rare genetic condition that means their blood does not clot properly.
In the 1970s, a new treatment was developed to replace the missing clotting agents, based on donated human blood plasma.
But entire batches of treatments – Factor VIII and Factor IX – were contaminated with deadly viruses.
Some treatments were imported from the United States, where blood was purchased from high-risk donors, such as prison inmates and drug addicts.
The second group concerned includes people who received a blood transfusion after childbirth, an accident or during medical treatment.
The blood used for these patients was not imported, but some of it was also contaminated, mainly with hepatitis C.
The main questions addressed by the survey include:
whether the victims were sufficiently supported
whether there were any attempts by the government or the NHS to cover up what happened
What more should have been done to prevent people from becoming infected, including whether testing could have been introduced earlier?
Sir Brian’s two interim reports, published in July 2022 and April 2023, contained recommendations on compensation for victims and their families.
The government said it accepted the “moral arguments” for compensation, and interim payments of £100,000 each have already been paid to around 4,000 survivors and bereaved partners.
Ministers have promised to address the issue of final compensation once the inquiry’s report is published. The total cost could be in the billions.
On Sunday, both the Conservatives and Labor pledged to compensate victims regardless of the outcome of the general election due later this year.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Laura Kuenssberg there had been a “rare moment of consensus”, with Defense Secretary Grant Shapps acknowledging families had been abandoned “for decades”.
The chairman of campaign group Tainted Blood, Andy Evans, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C as a child following treatment for haemophilia, said the publication of the report would be a “defining moment » after decades of campaigning.
“That’s really where we’re pinning our hopes: We have nowhere to go after this,” he said.
“From the outset, victims were informed by the government that the treatment was the best available and that every decision was made with the best intentions and with the best information available to them at the time.
“During the investigation this was found to be untrue. The evidence we heard, both from victims, officials and the NHS, showed this was not true.”
During the four-year inquiry, victims and their families gave evidence alongside current and former ministers, including Lord Clarke, who served as Health Minister in the 1980s, and the current Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who also gave evidence in his former role as Minister for Health. minister.
Campaigners also criticized the time it took to secure a public inquiry.
In other countries facing tainted blood scandals, including France and Japan, investigations into medical disasters were completed many years ago.
In some cases, criminal charges have been brought against doctors, politicians and other officials.
In the UK, a private investigation in 2009 – funded entirely by donations – had no real power, while a separate Scottish investigation in 2015 was branded a “whitewash” by victims and their families.
In 2017, following political pressure, then-Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a UK-wide public inquiry.
The results are expected to be presented at 12:30 p.m. BST.
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