London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Infected blood scandal: Five facts we have learned

Infected blood scandal: Five facts we have learned

A long-running public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS will hear its final evidence on Friday.

It is thought tens of thousands were infected with HIV and hepatitis between 1970 and 1991 after being given a contaminated drug or blood transfusion.

The inquiry, which started in 2018, has reviewed thousands of documents and heard testimony from 370 witnesses.

It will publish its formal conclusions and recommendations in the summer.

Here are five facts that have been revealed by the inquiry over the past five years.


1. The extent of the scandal


A group of academics hired by the inquiry produced detailed estimates of the numbers infected in the 1970s and 80s.

A total of 1,250 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders contracted HIV after being given a protein made from blood plasma known as Factor VIII.

About half of that group later died of an Aids-related illness.

At the time, the UK was not self-sufficient in Factor VIII, so it was often imported from the United States - where prisoners and other at-risk groups were paid to donate.

Another 30,000 NHS patients probably contracted a different virus - hepatitis C - through the same contaminated treatment, or a blood transfusion after surgery or childbirth.

It is thought about 2,050 of that group later died of liver failure or cancer caused by hepatitis C, before an effective treatment became widely available.

Richard Warwick was infected with HIV when given contaminated blood products as a child


2. The impact on children


Researchers found that 380 of those infected with HIV - about one in three - were children, including some very young toddlers.

When that figure was read out at the public inquiry, there was an audible gasp from survivors and relatives in the room.

At Treloar's College, a state-run boarding school in Hampshire, 72 pupils - all haemophiliacs - later died after being given the contaminated treatment.

The inquiry heard devastating testimony from survivors in a week of special hearings about the school.

"I often just think, why me? Why am I still here?" said Richard Warwick, a former pupil who was infected with HIV as a young boy in 1978.

"It's just the guilt of losing all those friends. I can name 10 that I know who are just gone. It's horrific."


3. Who knew and when?


One of the key questions the inquiry will now have to answer is whether more could and should have been done to prevent those infections and deaths.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major gave evidence at the inquiry


Former Prime Minister Sir John Major drew more gasps from families watching his testimony when he described the scandal as "bad luck".

He later apologised for his choice of language.

The inquiry was shown a letter written in May 1983 by Dr Spence Galbraith, then director of the UK's Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, to the Department of Health.

It warned that haemophiliacs were being infected with Aids and concluded that "all products made from blood donated in the USA... should be withdrawn".

There was no evidence the letter was acted on at the time.

In his testimony, Lord John Patten, a junior health minister from 1983 to 1985, said he "unequivocally" believed ministers should have been told about the warning and said - if he had - he "would have pressed the panic button".


4. A 'failure of democracy'


There was detailed questioning of ministers and civil servants about the internal workings of government.

Former Conservative health secretary Jeremy Hunt - now chancellor - was asked about official briefings he received as recently as 2012 suggesting the scandal had been an "unavoidable problem".

He described how state institutions can "close ranks around a lie" and said it was a "huge failure of democracy" that it has taken so long to get to the truth.

Another ex-health secretary Andy Burnham, now the Labour mayor of Manchester, said successive governments had "comprehensively failed" the victims over five decades and suggested there may be a case for charges of corporate manslaughter in the future.


5. Compensation agreed


Hundreds of victims of the scandal have received annual support payments but - before this inquiry - no formal compensation had ever been awarded for loss of earnings, care costs and other lifetime losses.

Many of those infected had had to give up jobs and live on benefits because of a series of health problems.

In July 2022, inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff made his first formal recommendation - an unusual move in the middle of a public inquiry.

He said there was a "compelling case" to quickly make some interim compensation payments of £100,000 each.

The government agreed and - in October 2022 - the first payments were made to about 4,000 surviving victims and widows.

But many children, siblings and parents of those who had died have missed out.

That included Laura Palmer, 39, who lost both her parents to HIV/Aids in August 1993, when she was nine years old.

"There are still a lot of bereaved families excluded, so there is more work for us to do," she told the BBC.

Further recommendations on compensation are expected when the inquiry publishes its final report, which is likely to be around the middle of the year.


Video statements were played at the start of the public inquiry in September 2018


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×