Inquiry keeps pressure on government with another report

Written by Jessica Bomford, March 13, 2025

The Infected Blood Inquiry has announced it is gathering new evidence about the government’s progress in implementing its compensation recommendations.

Sir Brian Langstaff said he’d listened to the experiences of 27 organisations and individuals, including the Haemophilia Society, and had concluded that a new report was necessary to test the ‘timeline and adequacy’ of government action on compensation.

He said: ‘The distress and feelings of powerless express in many of these statements can neither be denied nor ignored. Our goal at the inquiry is to identify whether there are practical measures that could be taken or changes made to address the concerns that have been brought to us.’

The Haemophilia Society was one of the organisations asked to submit evidence about the government’s implementation of compensation and the impact the process was having on our members and our charity. You can read the statement by our Chief Executive Kate Burt here.

In response to Sir Brian’s announcement, Kate said: ‘It is vital that the Infected Blood Inquiry continues to use its influence and insights to keep pressure on government to deliver its recommendations in the way that was intended.

‘As a charity on the frontline of support for this community, we see the damaging impact of the anger, confusion and despair caused by uncertainty over the government’s compensation scheme. Some of this could have been avoided if the community had been involved in meaningful consultation before the scheme was finalised.

‘The infected blood community feels let down and left out. Some are starting to lose hope that they will ever receive a fair compensation payment. We hope the inquiry’s intervention will result in a swift and fair outcome for everyone who has suffered as a result of this scandal.’

Sir Brian said he wanted to be constructive and avoid being the cause of further delay, but added that he had not ruled out holding more hearings.

Core participants will be invited to make written submissions and he urged people who want to contribute to start thinking about the points they want to make.

You can read Sir Brian’s announcement here.