- The blood scandal has been dubbed the worst treatment disaster in NHS history
The NHS has ‘very serious criminal and ethical issues’ to answer over reports that children were ‘experimented on’ using infected blood products, MPs have heard.
Cabinet Office minister John Glen said reports on medical trials using infected blood products on children in the 1970s and 1980s demonstrate the ‘unimaginable suffering of all those impacted by this dreadful scandal’.
The infected blood scandal, has been dubbed the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, saw thousands of patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood and blood products.
Reports from the BBC and The Sunday Times in the past week revealed that children as young as three were used as ‘guinea pigs’ in clinical trials to test wether contaminated blood products were safe to use.
Many of these trials were carried out on children without thier parent’s knowledge, while a majority of those who took part are now dead.
Dame Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, said the BBC had produced ‘shocking evidence’ about children ‘being experimented on’ without their parents’ consent.
She told the Commons: ‘These disturbing revelations raise very serious criminal and ethical issues for the NHS and the medical profession – possibly breaches of the 1947 Nuremberg Code.’
The Nuremberg Code outlines ethical research principles for human experimentation, including stressing the importance of consent.
The SNP’s Alison Thewliss said: ‘These parents should not be kept burdened with this guilt. There’s an estimated 380 children who were infected in a massive breach of trust and medical ethics. It is every parent’s worst nightmare.
‘So what does (Mr Glen) say to the parents of these children who were used as guinea pigs, an utterly despicable practice but made the worse by the lack of redress for those families?’
Mr Glen replied: ‘I recognise the distress is widespread, it’s felt across individuals and families across the United Kingdom.
‘My officials are working with prominent charities, organisations and support groups. I’m reaching out to them to share progress, to reassure the community I’ve heard their concerns, and seek their views in advance of May 20. I’m doing that out of deep respect for the suffering that they’ve experienced.’
Last week, the Government set out the terms of reference for the group appointed to advise ministers on compensation for victims of the scandal.
Dame Diana pressed the need for immediate compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal, telling the Commons: ‘We know that over 3,000 people have already died in the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, another 680 have died since the public inquiry started in 2018, and with two people dying on average every week 100 people have died since Sir Brian (Langstaff) made his final recommendations on paying compensation in April 2023.
‘He said wrongs have been done on an individual, collective and systemic level. He also said in all conscience he could not wait until his final report was published to tell the Government to start to pay compensation.’
Dame Diana said more than 160 MPs back the campaign for immediate compensation, saying: ‘The time to act is now.’
Mr Glen said he has attempted to ‘move forward everything I can’ on compensation ‘as quickly as possible’ since taking on the role last November.
He outlined the Government’s move for a statutory duty to make an interim payment of £100,000 to the estates of the deceased infected people, adding: ‘I have also put into legislation, with the consent of both Houses, the need to set up that arm’s-length body and make it operational as soon as possible.
‘My concern is to get that arm’s-length body up and running as quickly as possible so there’s a legal obligation to do so when royal assent is gained.’
Former Conservative health secretary Matt Hancock said he had made the ‘moral case’ for a compensation scheme for victims when in his previous role.
Mr Glen replied: ‘I feel responsibility both to get the substantive announcement agreed as quickly as possible, but also to ensure that I’ve got clear communication to the infected and affected community, and clear expectations of what will happen following that announcement.
‘I absolutely recognise, from all that I’ve read and all that my officials have briefed me on, that this is likely to be one of the biggest scandals that this country will ever have seen with respect to things that happened within the NHS.’
At least 2,900 NHS patients – including young children – died from being infected with HIV and hepatitis C.
Infected donations came from US prisoners, sex workers and drug addicts, who were paid to give their blood to the manufacturers of the product called Factor VIII.
Most victims had haemophilia – a rare blood-clotting disorder – and relied on regular injections of the products to survive.
All surviving victims and their bereaved partners are entitled to an interim £100,000 pay-out. But the existing scheme leaves out parents who lost their children and kids orphaned when their parents died.
Among the many victims were Colin Smith, who was infected in 1983 as a baby and died in 1990 aged seven after contracting HIV.
Others included Mike Dorricott, infected in 1982 before dying in 2015 aged 47, and Nicky Calder who was diagnosed with HIV in 1985 and died in 1999 aged 25.
Colin’s father, also named Colin, told the inquiry: ‘We should be living our lives now, but we will never really be able to until we are given the full truth.
‘I am not willing to have gone through all of this and be told that they did nothing wrong.’
Nicky’s mother Rosemary Calder, who chairs the Tainted Blood Bereaved Parent Support Group, has said that young haemophiliacs such as her son – treated at the age of three with infected blood – were used as ‘guinea pigs’.
She said: ‘No consent was sought from parents, and we were kept totally in the dark about any risks involved with the treatment, and the research taking place.’
Mr Dorricott, a mild haemophiliac, had been given Factor VIII when given surgery to have four wisdom teeth removed in December 1982 at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
He was later diagnosed with hepatitis C and died in 2015 from liver cancer linked to the disease, leaving behind wife Ann and two daughters Sarah and Eleanor.
The Infected Blood Inquiry is due to publish its final report in May.
Mr Sunak previously told the inquiry last July that the scandal was ‘a tragedy which should not have happened and we must right the wrong’.
He said in his witness statement: ‘The Government is committed in responding to this inquiry’s final report when it is published and I understand that work is underway across government to ensure that a substantial response on a full compensation scheme can be included.
‘I am aware of the complexities of preparing an adequate compensation scheme, including the likely need for primary legislation.
‘As is the usual process for managing policy decisions, this work is being led by other ministers and I will be sighted in relation to the scope of the scheme and intended response at the appropriate stage when they have a formal set of recommendations to make based on their expertise.’
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
