Release of Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report ‘an important step forward’ - Rhun ap Iorwerth

Final report will finally give a voice to victims, says Plaid Cymru leader

Plaid Cymru leader and Chair of the cross-party group on Haemophilia and Infected Blood in the Senedd, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, has described the release of the Infected Blood Inquiry's final report as "an important step forward".

The scandal caused thousands of people in the UK to become infected or die from contaminated blood was avoidable and inflamed by a “subtle, pervasive and chilling” cover-up by the NHS and government, according to the report.

In the long-awaited conclusion to a five-year public inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff, who chaired the investigation, said the calamity could “largely, though not entirely, have been avoided” – but successive governments and others in authority “did not put patient safety first”.

The inquiry was announced in 2017 to investigate the infecting of NHS patients with contaminated blood to in the 1970s and 1980s which led to the premature death of hundreds of people.

This final report follows two previously released interim reports that have recommended that UK Government compensate victims and their families who were adversely affected by this scandal. The creation of a compensatory body will be set up as part of the Victims & Prisoners Bill currently going through Parliament, however some campaigners remain concerned about the scheme as it’s presented in the legislation.

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, who will be attending the launch of the final report in London, said:

“For victims and their families, the release of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report represents a significant and important step forward in their decades-long pursuit for justice.

“This appalling miscarriage of justice has taken the lives of too many and ruined so many more, and for far too long, the voices of those who were impacted by this scandal were silenced. This final report will not only lay bare the systematic failings at every level which allowed a scandal of this magnitude to take place, but it will also give a voice to victims and share their honest and heartbreaking accounts with the world.

“As chair of the cross-party group on Haemophilia and Infected Blood in the Senedd and as an elected representative to victims in my own constituency, I’ve seen first-hand the devastation this scandal has caused, and I know how important a day this is for so many across Wales and the UK.

“I’m glad that we’re nearing the passing of a bill that places a duty on UK Government to pay the compensation that victims and their loved ones rightfully deserve – it’s taken far too long already - but we also can’t ignore some of the concerns that campaigners have about how this compensation will be paid and when. I urge MPs in Westminster of all political stripes to vote to ensure that this bill delivers the justice that is needed at pace, because we simply cannot wait any longer.”