Tainted blood scandal ‘is the worst tragedy in NHS history’

Number of victims could top 25,000, inquiry hears Ex-ministers may be forced to face inquiry

THOUSANDS may still not know they were infected with tainted blood in the 1970s and 1980s, the chairman of a public inquiry into the scandal revealed yesterday.

Sir Brian Langstaff said estimates that the total number affected could top 25,000 ‘may prove right’.

The former High Court judge also implied the probe could lead to prosecutions as a victim dubbed the episode ‘the worst tragedy in the history of the NHS’.

And the inquiry was told that former Cabinet ministers would be expected to give evidence – and could be forced to do so if they did not agree voluntarily.

Sir John Major, who was Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997, may be asked to explain how much he knew and when. Some 7,500 are known to have been hit by the scandal.

Up to 2,800 have already died after being infected with HIV or hepatitis C after NHS patients were given contaminated blood products, much of which was imported from the US.

At the first day of the inquiry’s preliminary hearings in Westminster, Sir Brian told victims and their families who had packed into the auditorium: ‘ The numbers here pay silent testimony to the sheer scale of the tragedy.

It is a truly sobering thought that if some claims are well-founded – and it will be for the inquiry to find out if they are – there may yet be many thousands more who do not feel well, but have not yet been told that the reason for this is that they suffer from hepatitis C.’

The retired judge said the probe was ‘ not a trial, whatever it may lead to later’. In France, Japan and the US, similar scandals have led to successful trials, fines and even jail sentences. Sir Brian was greeted with an ovation after vowing to put the ‘ infected and affected’ at the centre of proceedings.

He said: ‘ Putting people at the heart of the inquiry must recognise that people have different perspectives to bring to the inquiry.

‘It cannot be just a favoured few, or for that matter a favoured many, who are at its heart. Those who are haemophiliacs, those who were transfused with infected blood, or those who were both; those who were patients or those who were doctors – all are people, all are entitled to be heard.’

Victim Michelle Tolley, 53, who received hepatitis from a tainted blood transfusion following childbirth, said: ‘This is the worst tragedy in the history of the NHS and it must never ever happen again, absolutely never.’

The scandal involves tainted blood clotting treatment, known as Factor VIII, given to NHS patients including haemophiliacs or those needing transfusions. Much of the US stock was derived from vulnerable drug addicts and prostitutes on ‘skid row’, or prisoners paid to donate as often as twice a week despite the obvious risks.

By the mid-1980s, the blood was being heat-treated to kill viruses, but patients had already been infected. Wholesale screening of blood products only began in 1991.

Devastated families fought for justice for decades amid claims there was an institutional cover-up. Following pressure from campaigners and newspapers, including the Mail, Theresa May announced an inquiry last year. Jenni Richards QC, counsel to the inquiry, yesterday said the investigation would proceed as quickly as possible due to the failing health of many survivors.

She also confirmed the inquiry may hear from former ministers, who could be questioned publicly for the first time ‘about their decisions and actions’.

Solicitor Des Collins, whose firm represents more than 800 victims, said: ‘The feeling among our many clients is that they felt that the Government had washed its hands of them, but now those responsible – both in Government and at pharmaceutical companies – will be held to account.’

‘Sheer scale of the tragedy’