Infected Blood Inquiry hearings resume
The Infected Blood Inquiry hearings have resumed this week with evidence relevant to potential recommendations.
The Infected Blood Inquiry is examining the circumstances in which thousands of NHS patients contracted HIV or Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It is the largest public inquiry investigation this country has ever held.
The last stage of hearings heard evidence from panels of infected and affected individuals on specific themes, including minority ethnic communities, hepatitis B, recent diagnoses with hepatitis C, and parents whose children were infected at children's hospitals. This concluded the oral evidence to be heard by the Inquiry about what happened and why, which importantly began and ended with the testimony of infected and affected persons, except for two rescheduled days.
The Chair of the Inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff, thanked the 230 infected and affected persons who have given evidence in person throughout the Inquiry and roughly 3,500 people who have given written statements or spoken to the Inquiry's intermediaries. He paid tribute to the personal accounts given in this evidence, commenting: “Each of you has helped to place another piece in the jigsaw puzzle about what happened and why, sometimes with testimony that has cast light where no other documents or witnesses are available and often by providing depth and definition on experiences common to far too many families across the length and breadth of each of the four countries of the United Kingdom”[1].
The next stage of the Inquiry will focus on potential future recommendations, with evidence from witnesses on topics such as specialist psychological support, haemovigilance and pharmacovigilance, and finding people who are still undiagnosed.
The hearings began on Tuesday 8 November 2022 with Brian O'Mahony, Chief Executive of the Irish Haemophilia Society. The full timetable for hearings can be found here.
Saunders Law currently represents a group of core participants in the Infected Blood Inquiry. In addition to the Infected Blood Inquiry, Saunders Law is instructed on the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. We offer expert legal assistance and representation in all public inquiry cases and we are well-known for our work and thorough approach to complex cases.
Please contact us on 0207 632 4300 or fill in our online enquiry form if you would like our assistance and we would be happy to discuss your matter with you.
[1] IBI 7 October 2022 (redacted).pdf (infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk)