Meeting with new IBCA personnel

Written by Jessica Bomford, October 24, 2024

We were pleased to have the chance to meet the six new non-executive directors of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) at an introductory event on 23 October.

Representatives from the Haemophilia Society as well as Andy Evans, founder of the Tainted Blood campaign and support group were invited to provide an overview of the contaminated blood scandal as well as insights into the needs and concerns of the infected blood community.  

On 10 October IBCA announced the appointment of its non-executive directors whose role is to provide ‘constructive challenge’ to the IBCA board.

At the meeting our Chair, Clive Smith, provided a brief history of the Infected Blood Inquiry and our Chair-elect, Conan McIlwrath, looked to the future and stressed the need for transparency and to learn the lessons from the past.

Debra Morgan, our public inquiry lead, spoke about the diverse needs of the contaminated blood community and the importance of IBCA staff fully understanding the range of their experiences.

Andy talked about his own experience and those of some of the tainted blood community and the role of Tainted Blood.

Conan said: ‘IBCA staff and non-executive directors seemed very open to dialogue and recognised the need to speak to the community and get this right.

‘The non-executive directors asked lots of questions and genuinely wanted to understand the issues, which is to be welcomed.’

IBCA staff, including David Foley, Interim Chief Executive, and Sir Robert Francis, Interim Chair, were also present and we had the chance to chat to some of the key personnel who are setting up the organisation.

We hope to work with IBCA to support training newly-recruited staff and to offer guidance and feedback on behalf of our members about delivering the compensation scheme. We continue to lobby the Paymaster General, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP to meet us to discuss our members’ concerns about the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

The non-executive directors are:

Russell Frith, Chair of IBCA Audit & Risk Committee, Former Assistant Auditor General of Audit Scotland

Deborah Harris-Ugbomah, Founder and President of Lean In London; with extensive experience in risk, assurance and corporate compliance in financial services and the public sector

Paula Sussex, Chief Executive Officer, OneID and former CEO, Student Loans Company

Gillian Fairfield, Chair of the Disclosure and Barring Service

Sir Rob Behrens, outgoing Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in the UK

Helen Parker, former Deputy CEO of WHICH? and a committee member of HealthWatch England