Victims of tainted blood scandal given full inquiry

THOUSANDS of haemophiliacs and other patients who were given blood products infected with hepatitis C and HIV will get their “full statutory inquiry”, Downing Street has promised.

The contaminated blood scandal of the Seventies and Eighties will come under the responsibility of the Cabinet Office after victims and their families “expressed strong views” regarding the involvement of the Department of Health, it was confirmed.

Theresa May announced earlier this year that an inquiry would be held into the events that left around 2,400 people dead. Campaigners had rejected the original plan that the health department set up the inquiry because it was itself the subject of the investigation.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The inquiry will be conducted under the responsibility of the Cabinet Office rather than by the Department of Health with immediate effect. “We have been absolutely clear of our determination to establish what happened.”

Families and victims had been asked if they wanted a judge-led inquiry or a Hillsborough-style panel. Downing Street said there would be an announcement by the end of the year.

A spokesman for the Haemophilia Society said: “We hope the decision to make the Cabinet Office the sponsor of the now statutory inquiry will be a turning point in helping the victims finally get the justice they deserve.”