Our Chief Executive Richard Angell has called on Government to commit to a guarantee of lifetime support payments for those affected by the Contaminated Blood Scandal. 

The demand was set out in a letter sent to the Health Secretary on 17 March 2023. The full text of the letter is below.

Dear The Rt. Hon Jeremy Quin MP,

Thank you for updating the Infected Blood Community at the APPG meeting last week.

You mentioned during the meeting that you were unaware of the commitments made under oath by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, The Rt. Hon Matt Hancock MP at The Infected Blood Inquiry on 21 May 2021. With regards to the Infected Blood Support Scheme payments he said:

“Yes, I would absolutely give a commitment to anybody receiving a payment, any of the beneficiaries infected or affected, that I would expect that to continue for their lifetime, absolutely. That's my expectation.”

The full transcript from the evidence session

At the time he spoke on behalf of the whole Government. Can you please confirm that this remains the Government’s policy?

As I’m sure you were aware from the meeting last week, there is real anxiety around the long-term commitment to the infected blood support schemes from those who rely on this money to survive. I urge you to formalise this commitment before the final report from the Inquiry is published. This should not need an interim, let alone final, recommendation from Sir Brian Langstaff KC for it to be actioned. It is the minimum the community deserve.

Moving forward with the compensation framework, if my team at Terrence Higgins Trust can be of assistance we're here to help.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Angell
Chief Executive