Stopped rage after compensation for infected blood

Some victims of the infected blood scandal have been told that an interim compensation payment of £100,000 was to be made before Christmas was stopped.

At least 10 bereaved families are believed to have received letters saying applications approved this month could no longer go ahead unless they submitted new paperwork.

More than 30,000 people in the UK contracted HIV and hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

gave The government said in October For the first time, families of those who died in the scandal can apply for interim compensation.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds said he was concerned families had been given “conflicting” information, and asked officials to act as quickly as possible to ensure payments were made.

The Haemophilia Society called the situation “unacceptably cruel” and demanded an apology from the government.

Kim submitted the paperwork on behalf of her younger brother who was infected with HIV at the age of 16 and died in 1998.

He was told in writing that his application had been successful and that his family would receive £100,000 on 7 December.

But on November 25, she received a follow-up letter saying that the interim payment would not be made until she provided additional documents to prove that she was legally entitled to benefit from her brother’s will. It’s going to pick up.

“I’m just shocked that we could be treated with such contempt,” he said.

“It’s unbelievable, frankly, and I wouldn’t trust them to manage anything, let alone a scheme like this.”

Some bereaved families have already made financial decisions based on the compensation they expected, he said.

More than 3,500 victims of the scandal were NHS patients with the blood disorder haemophilia, infected after being given a contaminated clotting agent.

The Haemophilia Society said it had been contacted by other families who had been sent similar letters after being told their applications had been successful.

A bereaved mother who lost both sons to AIDS was told she would receive interim compensation for one child, but not the other, because of a clerical error in a document the family wrote about. Was told, there would be no problem.

Another mother whose son was infected with HIV at the age of eight was told she had to reapply because her son’s probate document listed her name as Judy when it should have been Judith.

Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said families were “shocked and angry” that successful claims were later rejected “without adequate explanation”.

“This atrocity is simply unacceptable and undermines confidence in the government’s ability to provide a fair and compassionate compensation process,” he said.

The charity is one of five groups that have written to Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the public inquiry into the scandal, accusing the government of “sneaking up” by adding “new bureaucratic burdens” to compensation claims. moving the goalposts from”.

Conservative MP David Davies has also written to the Cabinet Office on behalf of one of his constituents, calling for “common sense” to be used to process applications faster.

In total, £11.8bn has been set aside to compensate victims of the contaminated blood scandal, the government announced in the October Budget.

Mr Thomas Symonds added, “I am concerned that families who have already suffered so much have received conflicting reviews of their position.”

“I have directed the authorities to work as quickly as possible with the affected blood community and representatives of probate services to ensure that people can access the money they are entitled to as quickly as possible.”