Q&A
WHAT IS THE SCANDAL ALL ABOUT?
More than 7,500 patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis after being given contaminated blood by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s. They included patients with the blood clotting disorder haemophilia, mothers who needed blood transfusions following childbirth or patients who required them after major surgery. Up to 2,800 patients have since died and many others remain very seriously ill.
WHY AN INQUIRY?
The inquiry will try to establish whether members of the Government covered up the scandal. Campaigners say senior Department of Health officials knew the blood was
contaminated even while it was still being given to patients. WHO WAS TO BLAME?
This is what the inquiry will try to find out but amongst those facing serious questions is former Tory Prime Minister Sir John Major. Sir John, who was in post from 1990 to 1997, could be asked to explain how much he knew and when. Campaigners say Margaret Thatcher, his predecessor, also presided over a Government that failed to take responsibility. Others in the firing line include former Conservative health secretaries Ken Clarke, Virginia Bottomley, Norman Fowler, and William Waldegrave. Some leaked documents have suggested there was a cosy relationship between doctors and the drugs firms supplying the blood products.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
A shortage of a blood clotting treatment, Factor VIII, meant it was imported from the US. But much of the stock was donated by prisoners, prostitutes and the homeless and contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The inquiry is expected to last at least two years. There will be three days of preliminary hearings this week before it starts again in April. In the mean time, investigators will trawl archives at the Department of Health and hospitals in search of more evidence, which may lead to victims seeking large compensation payouts through the courts.
IS THE GOVERNMENT DRAGGING ITS HEELS?
Families say the Government initially failed to give them legal aid to prepare for the inquiry, until the Cabinet Office relented in March. However, relatives say they still haven’t received a penny and lawyers suspect the Government is very nervous of the inquiry as it is likely to be highly critical of former Tory politicians and public officials.