Final inquiry hearings look to future

Written by Jessica Bomford, October 14, 2022

The last witnesses to give oral evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry have been announced today.

With just two weeks of evidence remaining, Sir Brian Langstaff, Chair of the inquiry, said the purpose of the final two weeks of oral evidence was mainly to look to the ‘future’ by calling witnesses who can provide expertise to back up some of the recommendations he will include in his final report.

The hearings start on 8 November with evidence from Brian O’Mahony, Chief Executive of the Irish Haemophilia Society who will reflect on the outcome of Ireland’s inquiry 20 years ago and on the lessons learnt from the experience. The inquiry will also look at issues including specialist psychological support, the use of tranexamic acid, bio-security, regulatory issues and raising awareness among GPs about hepatitis C. The final witness, on Friday 14 November will be former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam.

There will also be evidence from the inquiry’s statistics panel on 9 November, which was postponed from last month. The full timetable is here. Registration to attend the hearings is now open.

The last part of the inquiry will be listening to final submissions from legal representatives, which will take place over three weeks in January and February 2023. We then await the publication of Sir Brian’s final report some months later.

Contact our Public Inquiry Team at [email protected] or 0207 9390780 if you need any further advice or information.