HAEMOPHILIAC Derek Martindale, who lost his brother to the infected blood scandal and who himself became infected with both HIV and Hepatitis C, has welcomed Rishi Sunak’s heartfelt apology on what the Prime Minister called a ‘day of shame for the British state’.
But Mr Martindale has also admitted to being left ‘angry’ and ‘sad’ after details of the compensation scheme announced yesterday (Tuesday) left a host of unanswered questions.
Cabinet Office Minister John Glen said that interim compensation payments of £210,000 would be made to ‘living infected beneficiaries’ within 90 days ‘starting in the summer’.
And people who were infected with deadly viruses as a result of the contaminated blood scandal could ultimately receive more than £2 million in compensation, according to Government documents.
Mr Glen said the first full compensation payments would be made before the end of the year, with friends and family members of those infected also eligible for compensation.
But Mr Martindale questioned the need for further delay - both on the interim and final payments.
On the interim payments, Mr Martindale said it wasn’t clear what Mr Glen had meant by ‘summer’ - and so it wasn’t clear when the 90 day clock would start ticking. “Is it June 1? July 1? August 1?” Mr Martindale asked.
He also pointed out that both Sir Robert Francis KC - who has just been announced as the interim chair of a new Infected Blood Compensation Authority - and Sir Brian Langstaff had written interim reports more than a year ago recommending that compensation payments should be made immediately.
Both times, the government had said it would respond, and both times nothing was done, Mr Martindale said.
He questioned the need for further delay: and was also angry that people indirectly affected by the blood scandal – those who had lost parents, children or siblings – did not seem to be covered by the interim payments scheme.
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“So I’m not sure whether I feel angry or sad, to be honest,” Mr Martindale said. “Rishi Sunak’s apology was great. It came from the heart.
“But the government is a behemoth – it’s like a tanker, so slow to respond.”
As reported in The Press, Mr Martindale – who grew up in York, and worked as a civil servant at Imphal Barracks in Fulford before moving to London in 1987 - is a haemophiliac who developed HIV and hepatitis C after being treated with infected blood.
He was just 23 when he was told by a family doctor that he had a year to live.
He survived, though he remains on medication for HIV to this day.
Tragically, his brother Richard, also a haemophiliac, went on to develop full-blown Aids after becoming infected by contaminated blood, and died in 1990, one month before his 24th birthday.
More than 30,000 people were infected with deadly viruses between the 1970s and early 1990s as they received blood transfusions or blood products while receiving NHS care. Some 3,000 have since died – and more continue to die as a result of their infections.
Mr Sunak issued a "wholehearted and unequivocal" apology to the victims on Monday, saying the publication of the report into the disaster was "a day of shame for the British state" and promising to pay "comprehensive compensation" to those affected and infected by the scandal.
How much compensation will victims get?
People who were infected with deadly viruses as a result of the contaminated blood scandal could receive more than £2 million in compensation, according to Government documents.
The "illustrative figures" on compensation published by the government late on Tuesday suggest that people living with an HIV infection as a result of the scandal could receive between £2.2 million and £2.6 million.
Payments for people living with hepatitis vary from £35,500 for an "acute" infection up to £1,557,000 for the most severe illnesses caused by the virus, according to the figures.
People infected with both viruses could be paid up to £2.7 million, the tables show.
Mr Glen also announced that family members of those infected would ultimately also be eligible for compensation.
The partner of someone infected with HIV who is still alive today could receive around £110,000, while a child could get £55,000, and siblings could receive £30,000.
The illustrative figures are not final numbers, however, and should be treated with caution.
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