Infected blood inquiry scandal - live: Sunak calls report ‘day of shame’ and vows to give victims compensation

We’re pausing our live coverage of the blood inquiry but keep checking independent.co.uk for the latest updates.

Pupils at a school were regarded “as objects for research” when they were treated with multiple, risky contaminated blood products, a damning inquiry into the infected blood scandal has found.

Between 1970 and 1987, 122 young boys who were pupil’s at Lord Mayor Treolar College were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C through contaminated products - only 30 of these pupils are alive. Research was conducted on pupils, who were subsequently infected.

The inquiry found in its report there is “no doubt that the risks of viruses, in particular hepatitis being transmitted through blood or blood products were well known to Treloar’s clinicians…clinical staff were well aware that their heavy use of commercial concentrate risked causes AIDS.”

Rishi Sunak’s Government has compounded the suffering of victims of the infected blood scandal with the “sluggish pace” and lack of transparency on compensation, an inquiry into the disaster in the NHS has found.

The Prime Minister’s insistence on waiting for the conclusion of the Infected Blood Inquiry before making a final decision on redress has “perpetuated the injustice for victims”, its chairman, Sir Brian Langstaff, said in his final report.

He criticised the “litany of failures” by successive governments from the early 1970s, with no action taken even as it became known that the collection of blood from prisons led to an increased risk of hepatitis transmission.

Sophie Wingate reports:

The worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS has been exposed in a damning public inquiry.

A 2,527-page report into the “shameful” infected blood scandal has accused the government and NHS of a calamity of failures that left 30,000 patients infected with HIV and hepatitis.

More than 3,000 people have died due to infected blood, blood products and tissue, with the number continuing to rise.

Jabed Ahmed reports:

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has issued an apology to victims of the infected blood scandal on behalf of the health service in England.

She said in a statement: “Earlier today, the Infected Blood Inquiry published its final report. The Prime Minister has subsequently issued an apology on behalf of successive Governments and the entire British state. I want to do the same on behalf of the NHS in England now, and over previous decades. Today’s report brings to an end a long fight for answers and understanding that those people who were infected and their families, should never have had to face.

“We owe it to all those affected by this scandal, and to the thorough work of the Inquiry team and those who have contributed, to take the necessary time now to fully understand the report’s conclusions and recommendations. However, what is already very clear is that tens of thousands of people put their trust in the care they got from the NHS over many years, and they were badly let down.

“I therefore offer my deepest and heartfelt apologies for the role the NHS played in the suffering and the loss of all those infected and affected.

“In particular, I want to say sorry not just for the actions which led to life-altering and life-limiting illness, but also for the failures to clearly communicate, investigate and mitigate risks to patients from transfusions and treatments; for a collective lack of openness and willingness to listen, that denied patients and families the answers and support they needed; and for the stigma that many experienced in the health service when they most needed support.

“I also want to recognise the pain that some of our staff will have experienced when it became clear that the blood products many of them used in good faith may have harmed people they cared for.

“I know that the apologies I can offer now do not begin to do justice to the scale of personal tragedy set out in this report, but we are committed to demonstrating this in our actions as we respond to its recommendations.”

“Poor record keeping” contributed to the contaminated blood disaster, Sir Brian Langstaff said.

The inquiry chairman said: “Poor record keeping has been a problem across many of the issues examined by the Inquiry.

“This had an impact on safety. If you can’t trace the source of a transfusion back to the donor who was infected, you cannot then tell and treat the donor, and avoid any further donations from that source. Nor can you trace previous donations to check if other people who have had transfusions from the same source have become ill.

“And reporting of infections did not have the priority it should have done.”

Former health secretary Sir Sajid Javid said the infected blood scandal is “the biggest in the history of the NHS” and accused public servants of “putting the reputation of themselves, and the NHS above that of patient safety and care”.

He added: “Time and time again ministers have stood at that despatch box, under successive governments including myself, promising that lessons will be learned. So can I ask (Rishi Sunak) why will it be any different this time?”

He referenced inquiries into other major scandals including the Shrewsbury maternity scandal.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government must “fundamentally rebalance the system” to finally address the failures which happened and are “so familiar from other inquiry by Hillsborough when innocent victims have to fight for decades”.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The institutional defensiveness identified by Sir Brian is a pattern of behavior that we must reverse.”

There was a “subtle, pervasive and chilling” cover-up of the infected blood scandal, according to the final report from the long-running inquiry.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK were infected with deadly viruses after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.

The final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on Monday, found there has been “deliberate destruction” of relevant documents and “elements of downright deception” from those in positions of trust and power.

Ellie Ng reports:

In his apology the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted,“It did not have to be this way. It should never have been this way.”

“And on behalf of this and every government stretching back to the 1970s, I am truly sorry.”

He said: “Layer and layer upon hurt, endured across decades, this is an apology from the state to every single person impacted by the scandal.”