Infected blood victims call for faster compensation

Compensation for infected blood victims needs to be delivered faster, campaigners have said on the first anniversary of a public inquiry report into what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.

"We are dying at pace, the government needs to be working at pace, not just talking about it," one campaigner said on Tuesday as a letter calling for action was handed in to the prime minister.

Diana Johnson, a minister who for years as a Labour MP supported victims of the scandal, said it was "disappointing" to hear how slow process had been.

But Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds said the government was "committed to delivering compensation as swiftly as possible".

More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV or hepatitis C or both after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. Around 3,000 people have died.

In his final report released one year ago, inquiry chair Sir Brian Langstaff said the scandal had been largely avoidable and involved systemic failings.

Campaigners had expected rapid compensation, but so far only 100 people have received payouts.

They gathered at Westminster on Tuesday to hand in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, stating their concern at the lack of progress.

"Twelve months on from the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry's devastating report, there remains deep concern from the contaminated blood community that politics is continuing to fail them," the letter said.

"As the Infected Blood Inquiry heard when it reconvened hearings on 7 May 2025, the community's voice was absent when the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme was drawn up. The resulting scheme contains fundamental flaws, which could and would have been foreseen."