Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Announced After Inquiry Report

The inquiry examined how thousands of people in the UK were infected through contaminated blood and blood products. The Prime Minister told Parliament that more than 3,000 people had died without learning the truth of what had happened.

The compensation scheme

On 21 May the Minister for the Cabinet Office made a statement on the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The government is establishing the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, an arm's length body to administer the scheme; a shadow body has been set up, an interim chief executive appointed and an interim chair announced. The scheme will be tariff-based, and an explanatory document with examples of proposed tariffs is being published. The interim chair will seek views from the infected blood community on the proposals before the terms are set in regulations.

Ahead of the full scheme, further interim payments of £210,000 will be made to living infected beneficiaries registered with existing Infected Blood Support Schemes, to those who register before the final scheme becomes operational, and to the estates of those who die before payment. The government says these will be delivered within 90 days, starting in the summer. Claimants will have access to an internal review process within the Authority and, where needed, a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. The government expects final payments to start before the end of the year.

Who is affected

According to the statement, people directly or indirectly infected by NHS blood, blood products or tissue contaminated with HIV or hepatitis C, or who developed a chronic infection from blood contaminated with hepatitis B, will be eligible to claim. Where an eligible infected person has been accepted onto the scheme, affected loved ones, including partners, parents, siblings, children and family and friends who acted as carers, will be able to apply in their own right.

What happens next

The government has said it will return to Parliament when regulations are laid later this year. The government has also said it will address the inquiry's wider recommendations as part of its response to the report. For claimants and their advisers, the key questions are eligibility, how the tariffs apply to individual circumstances, and how scheme awards interact with any existing support payments.

Sources

• GOV.UK: PM statement on the Infected Blood Inquiry, 20 May 2024
• GOV.UK: Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, statement from the Minister for the Cabinet Office