UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, conceded on Monday that it was a “day of dishonour for the British government”. He pledged to fully recompense thousands of victims in the UK who have been afflicted by tainted blood products supplied by the National Health Service (NHS), anticipating a final payment surpassing £10 billion.
Addressing the House of Commons, Mr Sunak extended a “full and frank apology” to approximately 30,000 victims and their families. These individuals contracted diseases like HIV and hepatitis C from 1970 to 1991 due to the provision of such blood products. His apology came after the final report of a public investigation into the scandal was published.
The investigation, championed by ex-judge Brian Langstaff, discovered that the British government participated in a broad attempt to conceal the issue, now regarded as the most significant scandal in NHS history. The judge determined that officials, ranging from the civil service to the NHS to politicians across successive UK governments, had disregarded the victims and their families and repeatedly misled the public.
Key findings from the seven-year-long investigation included the destruction of key documents as part of the cover-up, the concealment of risks from patients by NHS doctors, and the irresponsible provision of experimental blood products to children.
Furthermore, the judge found that Mr Sunak’s government had “continued the injustice” by not offering interim compensation payouts when suggested by the investigation two years prior.
Around 1,000 relatives of victims, including an estimated 3,000 who succumbed to disease after infection, gathered at Central Hall in Westminster, a stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament, to hear the final report of the Langstaff inquiry just after midday.
In a scathing statement, the judge criticised the British medical and political institutions for their “series of failures”. The investigation revealed that many of the infected individuals had received transfusions in the 70s and 80s of blood imported from the US. Donated by paid sex workers, inmates and drug addicts, this “cash for blood” method was acknowledged as dangerous from the mid-70s, yet the NHS continued using these products.
Several hours post the divulgence of the report, the House of Commons watched in silence as Mr Sunak admitted to the concealment of information. He openly and sincerely expressed regret to those affected, labelling it a day of national disgrace for Britain.
The head of the government asserted that, regardless of the final cost, his administration would sanction reimbursement. Representatives of the victims, along with their kin, expressed their desire for tangible actions rather than mere statements of regret.
Keir Starmer, the head of the Labour Party, expressed remorse to the victims on behalf of the party that was in power during a significant portion of the cover-up. He admitted to the party’s failure, expressing his apology using the single word – sorry.
Andy Evans, who leads the Tainted Blood advocacy group, highlighted how victims had been deceived for several generations. However, he believed the Langstaff report had effectively terminated such deception.