A £15,000 payout for schoolboys infected with HIV and hepatitis during the tainted blood scandal was blasted as ‘derisory and insulting’ last night.
Victims who were used as ‘guinea pigs’ at Treloar’s College in the 1970s and 80s have been left close to tears by the ‘unfathomable’ sum.
It is part of an updated multi-billion-pound compensation scheme for victims of the worst treatment disaster in NHS history which saw 30,000 people infected with deadly viruses.
The Government announced yesterday that the victims – with the worst affected expected to receive between £2.3million and £2.7million each – will be entitled to financial support for life.
Those subjected to ‘unethical research’ will also receive a one-off payment of £10,000 while victims from Treloar’s, where pupils were subjected to secret trials, will receive £15,000.
People affected by the infected blood scandal attend a vigil in Parliament Square on May 19, 2024
Families affected by the infected blood scandal pose for photographs outside the Methodist Central Hall following the release of findings of the six-year inquiry on May 20, 2024
One of the victims from the scandal Bill Spellman was just 45 years old when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1989
Victims who were used as ‘guinea pigs’ at Treloar’s College (pictured) in the 1970s and 80s have been left close to tears by the ‘unfathomable’ sum
More than 120 haemophiliacs at the boarding school in Hampshire were recklessly exposed to contaminated blood products imported from the US by doctors at an on-site NHS centre.
Richard Warwick, one of just 30 survivors from the school, said the figure failed to reflect the gravity of their cases and that the group were considering legal advice.
‘We all think it is derisory and insulting,’ he said. ‘It is unbelievable and unfathomable where they got this figure from. It’s a kick in the teeth.’
Mr Warwick, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis B, said a yearly instalment for those subjected to unethical research would have been closer to what they expected.
Fellow survivor Gary Webster, who also contracted both diseases, said: ‘We had eight years of non-stop trials at that school. We were used as guinea pigs and knew nothing about it.
‘Now 80 boys are dead so £15,000 feels like an insult, it’s just too low… so many families have lost sons.
‘And it’s not just the Treloar’s boys, the £10,000 payments for the others across the country is also too low.’
Demonstrators hold placards reading message related to the NHS infected blood scandal as then PM Rishi Sunak was questioned by Infected Blood Inquiry on July 26
More than 3,000 have died and many continue to suffer after tens of thousands of vulnerable patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis from contaminated blood products during the 1970s and early 1990s (file image)
Blood vials containing personal messages from families affected by the infected blood scandal are seen today in a memorial installation within Methodist Central Hall on May 20
He added: ‘All in all we welcome the recommendations. But these one-off sums for those who were tested on seem way off the mark.’
Payouts under the plan will start by the end of the year for survivors and by next year for affected people such as family members. Claims for the more than 3,000 who have died waiting for justice can be made through their estate.
Paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds said ‘no amount of money’ can make up for what happened but that ministers had acted in line with expert advice.
Asked about the criticism regarding the one-off payments, he told Sky News: ‘There was a particularly egregious breach of trust in respect of that school.’
The Cabinet Office minister said the Government had settled on the £15,000 sum as it had been suggested by Sir Robert Francis in his compensation framework study.
‘That is only one small element of the much larger amounts of money available under the tariff-based scheme,’ he added. ‘It is important though that we do reflect the fact… people were subjected to these horrific unethical medical practices.’
Des Collins of Collins Solicitors, who advised 1,000 victims of the scandal including the Treloar’s group said the men felt ‘let down’.
He added: ‘The Treloar’s boys’ situation called for a novel approach given there has been no comparator in English law for the mass injury and premature killing of children and young adults through experimentation without consent.
‘Theirs is undoubtedly a unique and devastating situation which they feel has not been fully addressed.’