First meeting with government’s expert group

Written by Jessica Bomford, December 17, 2025

The Haemophilia Society was part of the first in a series of engagement meetings with the government’s Technical Expert Group (TEG), which advises on options for implementing recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The meeting on 15 December was also attended by five other groups with a second meeting attended by six campaign groups held on 17 December. The aim was to discuss Special Category Mechanism (SCM) eligibility which is currently part of the government’s consultation on proposed changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Conan McIlwrath, Chair of the Haemophilia Society, opened the meeting. He told TEG chair, Sir Jonathan Montgomery, that this was the first ‘meaningful opportunity for direct engagement’ with the group since it was formed almost two years ago. He said this was overdue but hoped it would inform the advice TEG gave to government.

Conan set out the Haemophilia Society’s initial thoughts on SCM eligibility, ahead of a consultation on changes to the compensation scheme which will take place with our members before our submission to government.

Conan’s main points at the meeting were:

  • THS agrees with proposal that infected people, or the estates of infected people, who are already in receipt of SCM or equivalent payments should automatically qualify for the Severe Health Condition award.
  • Financial loss should be set at 80%, aligning it with the cirrhosis (level 3) category.
  • THS is opposed to the reduction of financial loss to 60% following the introduction of more effective hepatitis C treatment from 2017 because the majority of the bleeding disorder community had already been treated by that point and many continued to be impacted by that treatment.
  • The proposed six hours per week to compensate for domestic support and care during treatment should be considered a baseline claim and not a ceiling.
  • Individuals who previously applied for SCM and were denied should be able to reapply through the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
  • THS strongly supports the introduction of an SCM Severe Health Condition award for infected people who are not currently registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme.

You can read Conan’s statement in full here.

TEG was established in January 2024 to provide independent technical advice to support government decision-making on compensation for people impacted by infected blood. It is chaired by Professor Montgomery and is made up of legal, clinical and actuarial experts.

The government was criticised by the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report in July 2025 for not enabling the group to have any direct engagement with the infected blood community. Organisations, including the Haemophilia Society, were critical of a lack of representation on TEG of a psychologist and a hepatologist. The latter issue has now been addressed.

The groups represented at the first roundtable on 15 December were: Contaminated Blood Campaign, the Haemophilia Society, Hepatitis C Trust, Mono-HCV Infected Haemophiliacs, Tainted Blood and The Hepatitis B Trust.

The second meeting contained the following groups: British Liver Trust, Haemophilia NI, Haemophilia Scotland, Haemophilia Wales, Scottish Infected Blood Forum and UK Thalassaemia Society.

Further roundtables between TEG and support groups may be held in early 2026.

Notes from the meetings will be published by the government.