Q&A
WHAT DO BLOOD CAMPAIGNERS WANT? They want the legal right to compensation – not just ‘charity’. They say the scandal should be treated as any other case of medical negligence with a court deciding on blame and allocating compensation to cover loss and suffering. This should be available to surviving victims and bereaved families. WHY HAVE VICTIMS MISSED OUT?
The Government has never admitted liability despite Theresa May calling it a ‘tragedy that should never have happened’. Because no one has admitted they did anything wrong officials will not pay out.
WHAT SUPPORT HAS THERE BEEN?
Surviving victims can apply for ‘goodwill’ maintenance p ay m e n t s and discretionary support for one-off costs, such as repairing a leaking roof. This system dates back to 1991, when the Government set up a series of charitable trusts to provide help to victims as part of a settlement which saw a victims’ group drop a legal suit.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
Victims complained that they were forced to jump through hoops to get support payments - to ‘go cap in hand’ to the charitable trusts to ask for help. They also had somehow to ‘prove’ that their condition was caused by contaminated blood. The payments were discretionary – not a legal right – and trustees had the power to decide whether cash should be handed out. One dying patient had to sign over ownership to 58 per cent of his home in order to get support payments. by Ben Spencer
WHAT CHANGES WERE MADE IN 2017?
The charitable trusts were disbanded in 2017 and brought under the control of the NHS with the payments increased. Survivors are entitled to between £18,458 and £44,000 a year, depending on the extent of their condition. They can also apply for support payments for one- off costs, such as accommodation repairs, counselling, mobility aids and respite breaks. Victims say the schemes are still humiliating: people who contracted HIV by having sex with someone who was unknowingly infected by contaminated blood, must prove they were married or in a longterm cohabiting relationship.
WHAT ABOUT WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS?
Bereaved spouses or long-term partners can apply for ‘income topup’. This is means tested. Those with a household income of less than £10,000 a year can apply for up to £18,000. Those with a household income of more than £28,401 get nothing. Bereaved people with dependent children get extra payments.
HOW HAVE CHILDREN BEEN DEALT WITH?
Orphans who lost their parents to the blood scandal are assigned a care allowance, which is given to the person who cares for them, but this ceases when they reach 18. Otherwise, children whose parents died receive no support. Parents of children who died get nothing.