PM apology over blood scandal as Penrose inquiry reports

By The Press Association25th March 2015News ScotlandHealth and Wellbeing, Inquiry, News Scotland, NHS

David Cameron has apologised on behalf of the British government to victims of the contaminated blood scandal.

The Prime Minister also confirmed £25 million of funding to improve financial support for the NHS patients who were infected with hepatitis C and HIV during the 1970s and 1980s.

It comes after a comprehensive inquiry, set up by the Scottish Government to investigate what went wrong, called for people who had a blood transfusion before 1991 to now be tested for hepatitis C.

The probe, chaired by Lord Penrose, found more should have been done to screen blood and donors for hepatitis C in the early 1990s and said the collection of blood from prisoners should have stopped earlier.

Mr Cameron said: “To each and every one of those people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the Government for something that should not have happened.”

At Prime Minster’s Questions, Mr Cameron pledged to respond to the findings of the inquiry if he is returned to No 10 at the general election.

He added: “While it will be for the next government to take account of these findings, it is right that we use this moment to recognise the pain and the suffering experienced by people as a result of this tragedy.

“It is difficult to imagine the feelings of unfairness that people must feel at being infected with hepatitis C and HIV as a result of a totally unrelated treatment within the NHS.”

Opposition leader Ed Miliband said Labour would act on the findings if the party wins on May 7.

He told the Commons: “We undertake today to carry these recommendations forward as well.”

Scotland Health Secretary Shona Robison also apologised on behalf of the NHS and the Government in Scotland.

She accepted the inquiry’s single recommendation that steps should be taken to offer blood tests to anyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion before 1991 and who has not already been tested for hepatitis C.

She also confirmed that the Scottish Government will review and improve the financial support schemes offered to those affected and their families.

This review will be concluded before World Haemophilia Day in April 2016, she said.

Ms Robison said: “On behalf of the NHS and Government in Scotland, I would like to say sorry to everyone who has been affected by this terrible tragedy. We recognise just how catastrophic this was for everyone affected.

“While this was a UK – indeed international issue – I hope that today’s report means that those affected in Scotland now have at least some of the answers they have long called for.”

She added: “I will meet families and those affected today to personally express that apology, and to talk about our response to the inquiry report.

“The First Minister will confirm that apology on behalf of the NHS and Government in Scotland in Parliament tomorrow, and I will make a full statement in the chamber tomorrow afternoon.

“The people affected are first and foremost in our minds, and I hope that the publication of this detailed and thorough report will, at the very least, give them the comfort of knowing that the circumstances have now been thoroughly investigated in Scotland.”

In a written statement, UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “I would like to say on behalf of this Government how sorry we are for what happened, and express my sympathy for the pain and grief suffered by many infected people and their families.

“Whilst it will be for the next government to consider all of Lord Penrose’s findings, I would hope and fully expect proposals for improving the current complex payment system to be brought forward, with other UK health departments.

“In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that I will be allocating up to an additional one-off £25 million from the Department of Health’s 2015/16 budget allocation to support any transitional arrangements to a different payment system that might be necessary in responding fully to Lord Penrose’s recommendations.

“We intend this to provide assurances to those affected by these tragic events that we have heard their concerns and are making provision to reform the system.”

In his statement, Lord Penrose said: “For people infected by HIV/Aids and/or Hepatitis C, the impact on their lives and the lives of their loved ones has often been devastating.

“I would also comment on the often-forgotten suffering of clinical staff, who discovered that the treatments they thought were beneficial to patients actually caused them to become infected with life-threatening conditions.

“They too have been affected, especially when accused of knowing or deliberate attempts to harm patients.”

The inquiry investigated whether more could have been done to prevent infection in particular groups of patients and found that there were ”few respects in which matters should, or more importantly could, have been handled differently”, but it did find that more could have been done to introduce screening for hepatitis C earlier.

A decision to recommend the introduction of screening should have been taken by the middle of May 1990, rather than in November 1990, it found.

In relation to Aids, the inquiry believes that, once the risk had emerged, ”all that could reasonably be done was done”.

When actions in Scotland are compared with other countries around the world, they hold up well, it found.

Lord Penrose is seriously ill and was not present at the publication event, held at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

A statement was read out on his behalf by inquiry secretary Maria McCann.

It said: “A priority for the inquiry was ascertaining the numbers of people who acquired each virus, whether by blood transfusion or through therapy with blood products.

“In short, it is concluded that 478 people acquired the hepatitis C virus from blood product therapy in Scotland, and 2,500 acquired the virus from blood transfusion in Scotland between 1970 and 1991.

“Sixty patients acquired HIV from therapy with blood products, and 18 from blood transfusion in Scotland.”

Some families shouted out ”whitewash” as soon as the inquiry statement ended.

Haemophilia Scotland said: “The Penrose report reveals the enormous levels of suffering that has been endured for decades by individuals and families all over Scotland.

“The report contains powerful testimony of the horrendous damage to health, relationships and finances suffered by 478 Scottish families affected by bleeding disorders.

“For 193 of them their loved one has not survived to see the Penrose report published. The Scottish public will be shocked and appalled at the level of suffering that has been caused by the greatest scandal ever to engulf the NHS.”

It added: “Haemophilia Scotland, those infected, and their families are determined that all the decades of pain, loss and suffering should lead to real improvements in patient safety. We stand ready to work with the Scottish Government to make that happen. This is now in their hands and we feel sure they won’t let us down.”