Yesterday (21 July), the Government and IBCA responded to the recommendations made in the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recent report on compensation.
IBCA has accepted all the recommendations in relation to its operations, including establishing a registration process for those who intend to make a claim.
The Government has immediately accepted seven of the 15 recommendations made to them. This includes recommendations on HIV start dates, removing the requirement for people with Hepatitis B or C to evidence their date of diagnosis, and affected estates. The Government has committed to consulting on the remaining eight recommendations, accepting that there is need for change in areas such as the impact of interferon and the special category mechanism and its equivalents.
We welcome the swiftness of these responses and acknowledge that the proposed changes include important steps for making payments fairer and faster for the infected and affected community. We are now looking at the plans in detail and will release a statement shortly.