a minimum of £100,000 must be paid to all infected blood victims and relatives throughout the UKthe chairman of the enquiry said in the matter.
The a fee must be paid “immediately” to those affected, Sir Brian Langstaff wrote in an interim report published on Thursday.
He pointed out that the government should not take the recommendations to heart, but said his report on interim payments “was not the end of the investigation and the issue of compensation”.
He also admitted that not everyone would benefit from the recommended payment arrangement.
“I have decided to recommend that interim payments of not less than £100,000 be made to all infected people, and to all dependents currently registered with the schemes and those registering between now and the start of any future scheme.
“I know this will be disappointing to some of you who may not fall into either category and I apologize for that. I ask those who are disappointed to remember that this is not the end of the work of the investigation.”
It comes after a report was published in June on Sir Robert’s interim payments, which was studying options for a compensation framework for victims of the tainted blood tragedy.
The investigation was set up to investigate how thousands of patients in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
About 2,400 people died in what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
In a letter to Paymaster General Michael Ellis accompanying the report, Sir Brian said: “It was the strength of Sir Robert Francis QC’s recommendation for an interim payment, as reinforced by him in the course of his oral evidence for the inquiry. , which prompted me to think about whether I should exercise my powers to make such a report.
“I believed that basic justice required me to think about this question. No submission submitted to me argued that I should not make a recommendation.
“After considering the submissions and considering the evidence this research has heard of serious physical and mental suffering from a wide range of backgrounds, in different places and in different personal circumstances, I felt it appropriate to write this report. to make .
“I recommend the following: (1) An interim payment should be made without undue delay to all infected and all surviving dependents currently registered with UK infected blood aid schemes, and those registering between now and the commencement of any future settlement; (2) The amount must not be less than £100,000 as recommended by Sir Robert Francis, QC.”
Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors, said Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendation to the government for immediate interim payments will provide compensation “which many of those who suffer have owed for decades”.
“While it comes too late for the thousands who have died tragically in the intervening years since they were infected, it is a welcome development for some of those who are still living with the dire consequences of this preventable treatment failure.
“We look forward to the day when all victims of this scandal will be duly compensated for their suffering and for those whose decisions have resulted in the destruction of countless innocent lives being held accountable.”