Theresa May launches inquiry into contaminated blood scandal

The Government will set up an inquiry into the NHS contaminated blood scandal, Downing Street has announced.

A spokesperson for Theresa May said she and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had announced the probe to ministers in this morning’s Cabinet meeting.

Mr Hunt said 2,400 people died in the 1970s and 1980s after being given blood infected with hepatitis and HIV.

“It is a tragedy that has caused immeasurable hardship and pain for all those affected and a full inquiry to establish the truth of what happened is the right course of action to take,” he said.

“It is going to be a wide-ranging inquiry.”

The blood was given to 4,670 haemophiliacs, with the American-produced plasma product Factor VIII thought to have played a significant role in spreading the viruses.

While victims in England have received discretionary payments from the Government, no body or organisation has ever admitted liability or paid compensation over the affair.

The Health Secretary will meet victims’ families before deciding on the style of the inquiry, which could be judge-led, a Hillsborough-style independent panel, or another format, said health minister Philip Dunne.

Mr Dunne told MPs the concerns of families had led ministers to set up a new probe into the scandal, adding that he hoped Mr Hunt’s consultations would be completed by autumn.

A parliamentary report published in 2015 by the All Party Parliamentary Group into haemophilia found that 7,500 patients were infected with the imported blood products.

Factor VIII was used to treat people with haemophilia because it helped their blood clot.

It was later discovered that much of the blood used to create the product was taken from American prisoners who were paid for their blood.

Ms May called the contaminated blood scandal an “appalling tragedy which should simply never have happened”.

“Thousands of patients expected the world-class care our NHS is famous for, but they were failed,” she said.

“The victims and their families who have suffered so much pain and hardship deserve answers as to how this could possibly have happened.

“While this Government has invested record amounts to support the victims, they have been denied those answers for too long and I want to put that right.”

The announcement came just two days after six party leaders in the Commons – including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Democratic Unionists’ Nigel Dodds – signed a joint letter calling for an inquiry.

Welcoming the move, Mr Corbyn said the investigation should have the potential to trigger prosecutions.

“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,” he said.

“A broad, public, inquisitive inquiry is very important.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who as shadow home secretary championed the campaign for an inquiry, said the announcement was a “major breakthrough”, albeit a belated one for people who had suffered for decades.

“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 said.

“It is now incumbent on those organisations to work together to give the families truth, justice and accountability without any further delay or obstruction.

“It is essential that this inquiry looks at both the original negligence and the widespread cover-up that followed.”

He added that it was “crucial” that organisations representing victims were fully consulted throughout the process of the inquiry: “Just as with Hillsborough, there must be a ‘families first’ approach at all times.”

Former health minister Anna Soubry said the victims of the scandal must be given “the money they deserve and need” during an emergency debate on the issue in the House of Commons.

Ms May added: “As Prime Minister, I am determined to stand up for victims and confront injustice and unfairness in our society at every turn.

“We will work with the victims and their families to decide what form this inquiry should take so their voices are heard and they finally get the answers and justice they have spent decades waiting for.”

Labour MP Diana Johnson said the Prime Minister had “earned a place in history” by launching the inquiry and giving victims and their families the “justice they have so long been denied”.