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Contaminated blood scandal: Theresa May orders inquiry Theresa May orders contaminated blood scandal inquiry
(about 3 hours later)
Ministers have announced a full inquiry into how thousands of people were infected with hepatitis C and HIV by contaminated blood transfusions, following a long campaign by backbench MPs and pressure groups. The government is to establish a full inquiry into how contaminated blood transfusions infected thousands of people with hepatitis C and HIV, bowing to years of pressure from MPs and campaign groups.
The decision by Downing Street came hours before the government faced possible defeat in a vote on an emergency motion about the need for an inquiry into the scandal that is believed to have contributed to 2,400 deaths. The move came hours before Theresa May faced possible defeat in a Commons vote on an emergency motion about the need for an inquiry into the scandal and the 2,400 deaths believed to be involved.
Theresa May’s spokesman said she and the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had told the cabinet on Tuesday that an inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal was required. Survivors welcomed the announcement, but said the decades-long wait for answers had been far too long. The contamination took place in the 1970s and 80s, and the government started paying those affected more than 25 years ago.
Hunt said the UK-wide inquiry would look into the contamination that happened mostly in the 1970s and 80s before mass screening of all blood donations was introduced in 1991. The Labour MP Diana Johnson, a long-time campaigner for those affected by the tainted blood products, had been granted an emergency debate to be held in the Commons on Tuesday.
“Jeremy Hunt said that 2,400 people had died and it was necessary to establish the causes of this appalling injustice,” May’s spokesman said. Without a substantial majority, the prime minister could have lost on the emotive issue and she announced the inquiry – the format of which is still to be decided – to the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.
Giving more details to parliament during the debate on the issue, instigated by the Labour MP Diana Johnson, the health minister Philip Dunne said families would be consulted over what type of inquiry would be best. In a subsequent statement, May said the infection of thousands of people, mainly haemophiliacs, was “an appalling tragedy which should simply never have happened”.
“The victims and their families who have suffered so much pain and hardship deserve answers as to how this could possibly have happened,” May said, saying they “have been denied those answers for too long and I want to put that right”.
A recent parliamentary report found around 7,500 patients were infected by imported blood products from commercial organisations in the US, whose paid donors included injecting drug users and prison inmates. More than 2,400 haemophiliacs who received the tainted blood are dead.
Speaking during Johnson’s debate, the junior health minister Philip Dunne said families would be consulted about what type of inquiry would be best.
The two most likely options were a judge-led statutory inquiry, or a Hillsborough-type independent panel, Dunne said, adding that the process would begin “as soon as practical”.The two most likely options were a judge-led statutory inquiry, or a Hillsborough-type independent panel, Dunne said, adding that the process would begin “as soon as practical”.
Pressure for an inquiry had grown amid campaigning by Johnson and Andy Burnham, the former Labour MP who is now mayor of Greater Manchester.Pressure for an inquiry had grown amid campaigning by Johnson and Andy Burnham, the former Labour MP who is now mayor of Greater Manchester.
In his final speech to the Commons in April, Burnham said he had been contacted by victims and families who believed medical records had been falsified to obscure the scandal, saying there was evidence of “a criminal cover-up on an industrial scale”.In his final speech to the Commons in April, Burnham said he had been contacted by victims and families who believed medical records had been falsified to obscure the scandal, saying there was evidence of “a criminal cover-up on an industrial scale”.
Such allegations were key to the government’s decision, Dunne told MPs. “In light of these concerns and reports of new evidence and allegations of potential criminality, we think it is important to understand the extent of what is claimed, and the wider issues that arise,” he said.Such allegations were key to the government’s decision, Dunne told MPs. “In light of these concerns and reports of new evidence and allegations of potential criminality, we think it is important to understand the extent of what is claimed, and the wider issues that arise,” he said.
If anyone had evidence of criminality they should contact police as soon as possible, Dunne added. Burnham said in a statement the decision to hold an inquiry was “a vindication of all those people who have campaigned bravely throughout the decades, often in the wilderness”.
Burnham said the decision to hold an inquiry was “a vindication of all those people who have campaigned bravely throughout the decades, often in the wilderness”. He added: “But this day has taken far too long in coming. People have suffered enough through contaminated blood. They have been let down by all political parties and public bodies.”
He added: “But this day has taken far too long in coming. People have suffered enough through contaminated blood. They have been let down by all political parties and public bodies. Liz Carroll, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said survivors and families had sough the truth for decades. “Instead, they were told by the government that no mistakes were made while it repeatedly refused to acknowledge evidence of negligence and a subsequent cover-up,” she said. “Finally, they will have the chance to see justice.”
“It is now incumbent on those organisations to work together to give the families truth, justice and accountability without any further delay or obstruction.” Matt Gregory, a trustee of the Macfarlane Trust, which the government set up in 1988 to support survivors of the blood contamination, says it has been chronically underfunded.
A big factor in the timing of the announcement was likely to be the emergency debate granted to Johnson by the Commons Speaker, John Bercow. “My main concern is the ongoing difficulties that survivors are going through now, with not having enough money and not being supported properly,” said Gregory, 48, who has lived with HIV and hepatitis C since the age of 14.
With the leaders of six political parties in the Commons having signed a letter calling for a public inquiry into the affair, among them the Democratic Unionists, the government faced a likely defeat on a vote on the issue. “I am grateful for the inquiry. I really want to see some interim support put in for people to the level they deserve.”
Many of those infected by the contaminated blood were people with haemophilia, who need regular transfusion of blood products. During that period many of these were imported from the US where donors were paid, a practice that increased the risk of unsuitable blood. Gregory paid tribute to campaigners who died during the fight for justice, such as Haydn Lewis, who was was diagnosed with haemophilia at the age of two, and died of complications caused by HIV and hepatitis C.
Donors in both the US and UK at the time included prisoners, where drug use was an added risk. In an interview with the Guardian eight years ago following an earlier inquiry into the scandal, Lewis recalled getting access to his medical notes, which revealed that although he had tested positive for HIV in 1984, he was not informed until February 1985 – during which time, he believes, his wife was also infected with the virus.
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said there was a need for a “broad, public, inquisitive inquiry”, adding: “2,400 people died as a result of this contaminated blood, and it’s caused unbelievable stress to many, many more people. “How do you deal with that?” he asked. “How do you cope knowing that you have given someone you love something that will kill them?”
“It was obviously a serious systemic failure. I think we need the strongest possible inquiry that can, if necessary, lead to prosecution actions as a result, but above all get to the bottom of it.” Lewis was among those who agreed to an ex gratia payment from the government, described as voluntary so as to not formally admit any official liability for what happened. As with others receiving the money, Lewis signed a waiver in 1990 which stipulated he would seek no further recompense for any further infections.
Beginning the debate in the Commons, Johnson, the MP for Hull North, said the best approach appeared likely to be a Hillsborough-style panel. “This has to have the support and confidence of those affected,” she said.
In a separate statement she said: “An inquiry must also ensure that those involved in the scandal provide oral and written evidence, and it must investigate not just the lead-up to this tragedy but the aftermath – including the alleged criminal cover-up and the loss of documents and medical records.”
The government has already set up a payout scheme for those affected. In March, it was announced that the scheme could be scaled back because of the number of people developing serious health issues, pushing the programme up to £123m over budget.