Infected blood victim from Hertfordshire hoping for swift compensation
It's after the government announced yesterday financial payments would be made to victims and their families by the end of the year
A victim of the infected blood scandal from Hertfordshire is hoping the Government will stick to its word and roll out financial compensation swiftly.
The official Inquiry looking into years of wrongdoings within the NHS delivered its final report on Monday, detailing a scandal which "could largely have been avoided", with a "pervasive" cover-up to hide the truth.
The report came decades after tens of thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through infected blood and blood products in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, in what has been dubbed the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
While it detailed findings from five years of evidence, the report also listed specific recommendations, including compensation for victims.
Yesterday, the Government announced financial payments would be made by the end of this year to victims themselves and the families of victims whose lives were taken to infections.
"...you kind of think, well, what sort of compensation can make up for for [...] the tragedy...?"
Nicola Jones, from St Albans, is one of the countless victims.
She was diagnosed as young child with mild haemophilia, a condition where the blood struggles to clot, leading to higher risk of blood loss and internal bleeding through minor injuries.
She was only nine years old when she was given medical treatment, which she later found out had contaminated her blood with Hepatitis C.
She said: "You'd like to believe that they will start rolling out compensation by the end of the year, but for many, sadly, that will be too late."
"There's many widows or widowers that had given up jobs to look after their loved ones and have been unable to work since, some have have lost homes, and you kind of think, well, what sort of compensation can make up for for that and the tragedy that they've been faced with?"
"There's there's many that lives have been lost and will continue to be lost whilst this is sorted."
While she told Greatest Hits Radio she finally feels vindicated, the acknowledgment comes too late for many who died without seeing justice.
She said: "There is one person every four days still dying."
"I think it's it's come way too late, because it has been decades, and I think it needs to be looked at as why so late."
"For me personally, yes, I'm happy mainly with what Sir Brian Langstaff said because it is vindication, but at the same time t's bittersweet."
"There's there's many that lives have been lost and will continue to be lost whilst this is sorted."
The 2,527-page report documents a "catalogue of failures" which had "catastrophic" consequences, not only among people infected with contaminated blood and blood products, but also their loved ones.
Sir Brian Langstaff, the Chair of the Inquiry, stated "This disaster was not an accident".
Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer apologised to victims on behalf of previous governments.