Yesterday, Sir Brian Langstaff published the Infected Blood Inquiry Report, which concluded that a ‘catalogue of failures’ led to many individuals across the UK being treated with infected blood or blood products between 1970 and 1998. The report follows a five-year inquiry and found that the transmission of viral infections whilst treating patients ‘could have been avoided.’

The blood scandal, termed by Lord Winston as ‘the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS,’ has seen 30,000 people infected from contaminated blood treatments causing them to catch HIV and hepatitis. About 3,000 of these patients have since died and more deaths are expected to follow.

The report discusses how, in the most extreme cases, children were treated unnecessarily with high-risk blood concentrates. One of the most harrowing examples detailed in the report relates to Treloar’s School where pupils were used as ‘objects for research’. It is understood there are only 30 surviving pupils out of 122 who were treated for haemophilia with infected blood products between 1970 and 1987.

In response to the scandal, successive governments have repeatedly maintained that people received the best available treatment and that testing of blood donations began as soon as the technology was available. However, the report suggests that infections were needlessly caused by systemic and individual failures to acknowledge and deal with the considerable risk of blood contamination.

The report specifies that the deaths were caused, in particular, by allowing the importation and distribution of ‘Factor 8’ blood concentrates with a high-risk of contamination and a failure to ensure a sufficient supply of blood products from the plasma of UK donors to meet reasonable foreseeable demand. The Infected Blood Inquiry found that ‘Factor 8’ concentrates were made, in some cases, from blood donated by groups at high risk of HIV and hepatitis including drug addicts and prisoners in America. Sir Langstaff’s report blames the ‘inept, fragmented system by which the blood services of England and Wales operated.’

The suffering of victims was compounded further by the complete absence of any apology, a lack of transparency, and in some cases, complete destruction of documents by the NHS and the government.

Following the report, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to pay ‘comprehensive compensation to those infected and those affected by this scandal … whatever it costs.’ The Guardian reports that details of the compensation scheme, which is expected to cost over 10 billion, will be set out today by Cabinet Office minister John Glen.

However, financial compensation may not be enough for some victims of this scandal. Ian Long, whose father died from HIV after receiving infected blood, would like to find justice through a case of corporate manslaughter which would see doctors and politicians facing criminal charges.