The first victims of the contaminated blood scandal will receive final compensation payments this week, the government has said.
Ten people have been offered settlements worth a total of more than £13m, with thousands more applications to be processed since January.
In the 1970s and 80s, more than 30,000 people contracted HIV and hepatitis from contaminated blood products.
In May 2024, a damning report was received by the authorities Covering up the scandal exposed victims to unacceptable risks..
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in October’s Budget that £11.8bn had been set aside to compensate victims, in what is thought to be the biggest payout of its kind in the history of the NHS.
Almost 4,000 survivors and bereaved partners have already received a series of interim payments of up to £310,000.
A new organization, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, has been set up to make final payments to victims and their families.
The government has said that the first few victims have now accepted the offers and are due to receive the money in the coming days.
The individuals, whose identities are being withheld, were infected with the potentially deadly virus after receiving contaminated blood transfusions, or receiving treatment for hemophilia or a similar blood disorder.
Another 25 people have been invited to stake their claim for final compensation and are expected to receive offers soon.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds said “no amount of compensation” could fully address the suffering caused by the scandal.
“I hope this shows that we are doing everything we can to provide significant compensation to the victims and affected people,” he added.
“After so many years of injustice, I hope this gives some confidence to a community that has suffered so much that action is being taken.”
The government is holding fresh talks with survivors’ groups and their families this week amid criticism that the compensation process has been too slow, and has not taken families’ views fully into account.
something Bereaved relatives were recently informed. Their interim compensation payments, which were due before Christmas, were suddenly stopped until they could provide additional documentation.
Earlier this week, the head of the public inquiry into the scandal, Sir Brian Langstaff, Wrote to ministers to express concerns About the ‘basis of dissatisfaction’ with the way the process is being managed.
Haemophilia Society chief executive Kate Burt described news of the first final payments as “positive” but said it should not overshadow “significant concerns that are felt across the community”.
He added, “The reality behind this announcement is that there is widespread frustration and anger at the slow pace of compensation that the government does not seem to be listening to community suggestions on how to improve the scheme. “
“If there is to be rapid progress in compensating the victims and bereaved, the government needs to start taking seriously the concerns of those at the heart of this scandal.”