Andy Burnham has slammed the authorities who oversaw the infection of thousands of NHS patients with contaminated blood since the 1970s. The Greater Manchester Mayor gave evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry in London today (July 15), saying that victims and their families need accountability from the public bodies at fault, just like those involved in the Hillsborough disaster.
The infection of up to 30,000 people with HIV or hepatitis C from contaminated blood has been called the NHS’s biggest treatment disaster. The scandal has prompted an independent inquiry, following the deaths of thousands after contaminated blood products were imported from the US in the 1970s and 1980s, often from prisoners, sex workers and drug addicts who were paid to give their blood.
Today, the former health secretary and health minister called the scandal a ‘colossal failure’, saying that there ‘may even be a case for asking the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider charges of corporate manslaughter’. He is also calling on the Conservative leadership candidates to make interim compensation payments as victims, many of whom are likely to have their lives shortened by their infections, write their wills.
