Bedfordshire victim reacts to recommendations of Infected Blood Inquiry
More people who lost loved ones during the "biggest treatment disaster in the NHS" should be entitled to compensation, the chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry has said.
Victims of the infected blood scandal have said the extension of their compensation scheme is a "light at the end of the tunnel" after living through a "horror film" for the past 40 years.
Survivors have welcomed a recommendation by Infected Blood Inquiry chair Sir Brian Langstaff to extend reparations to bereaved parents and children, rather than victims and widowers only, and people infected with hepatitis B.
Thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis after being injected with contaminated blood between 1970 and 1991 in what has been described as the "biggest treatment disaster in the NHS".
Some of these victims attended the release of the interim report at Aldwych House in central London on Wednesday, where they heard a video message from Sir Brian.
Christopher Smith, 46, from Bedfordshire lost his father when he was just 8. His dad, who was a haemophiliac was switched to infected blood as part of his treatment in the early 1980's. He contracted HIV and Hepatitis, later dying of AIDS.
"It was Devastating, I had grown up spending all my time with him... he went for a check up in January 1986, we said goodbye and he never came back"
"Through campaigning I later found out through medical records, that Doctors knew he was infected, and they didn't tell us"
"It's criminal and there's still a lot of fight until we're through this".
A government spokesperson said:
“The infected blood scandal should never have happened. Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report will help the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to meet our shared objective to be able to respond quickly when the Inquiry’s final report is published in the autumn.
“We thank the Chair and the Inquiry team for this detailed interim report and the Government is continuing preparations for responding to the final report when it is published.”