North East victims and bereaved families of infected blood scandal to hear about compensation
The Government will make an announcement today
We are expecting to hear about compensation for victims and bereaved families of the infected blood scandal today.
A five-year public inquiry concluded yesterday that the NHS and successive administrations covered it up.
Milners Law, which has an office based in Darlington, has helped those affected in the North East, Teesside and North Yorkshire.
Ben Harrison, head of public law, said: "One of the most important recommendations is a note that Sir Brian has left which is that he should retain his powers under the Inquiry Act, if he should need it. Now the effect of that is, is that if Government doesn't do anything with these recommendations and give a good reason why, then Sir Brian still has the power to call further hearings.
"I think it's important that those recommendations are taken on board. These scandals keep happening and the only way they're going to stop happening, is if people in Government and people in positions of power realise that when a mistake is made, it's far better to own up to it.
"There are still victims of this tragedy waiting to be compensated. Our clients hopes are that Sir Brian's recommendations on compensation are going to be acted on in full, and we expected to hear from the Government about exactly what they're going to, but until we have that detail from Government then we simply don't know what's going to happen.
"I've got every hope that the Government will do the right thing and enact the recommendations made. Some of our clients have been at this campaign for 40 years now and they're tired. They deserve the justice which has been served in this report."
In response to yesterday's report, Milners said: "Our clients have spent 30 years tirelessly campaigning for recognition, truth, and justice, only to be ignored, rebuffed, or branded as conspiracy theorists. The Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report shows that our clients have finally been heard and their suffering acknowledged.
"We welcome Sir Brian Langstaff’s comprehensive report, whilst mourning the loss over the decades of so many loved ones who died in horrible and degrading circumstances without any recognition of their plight. Too many died without witnessing the fruits of their tireless and tenacious work, including the preservation of vital evidence which would otherwise have been lost and, ultimately, pushing to make this Inquiry happen. Without them, a light would not have been shone on the worst human tragedy to have hit this country which, in Sir Brian’s words, could and should have been avoided.
"Justice delayed is justice denied. In this case, justice was delayed and denied for decades.
"Sir Brian makes a finding that there were “systemic, collective and individual failures to deal ethically, appropriately and quickly, with the risk of infections being transmitted in blood”. In short, the system disregarded and downplayed the risks that had emerged and were plain for all to see.
"Importantly, Sir Brian has also recognised that those astonishing failures – ranging from individual clinicians through to hospitals and, ultimately, successive national governments – have been compounded by unjustifiable “institutional defensiveness”, “groupthink amongst civil servants and ministers”, “a lack of transparency and candour” and a “refusal to accept responsibility and offer accountability… or provide compensation”.
"Sir Brian records that the current government continues to refuse to accept responsibility and offer accountability and adequate compensation. Accordingly, he has accepted our submission and taken the unprecedented step of deciding to retain his statutory powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 to scrutinise the response of government to his report and recommendations so that he can properly fulfil the Inquiry’s terms of reference. Amidst a backdrop of repeated ‘lines to take’ and ‘institutional defensiveness’, this gives our clients the reassurance that those recommendations will not be allowed to sit on a shelf gathering dust, like those of many public inquiries that have gone before.
"For the past six years, it has been our privilege to act on behalf of haemophiliacs and their families in the pursuit of justice, which we could not have done without the incredible assistance of our counsel team, Sam Stein KC and Scarlett Milligan of 39 Essex Chambers. They and us will continue to fight for justice for our clients beyond the publication of the Inquiry’s Report."