The UK Government has announced a series of changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, following feedback from the infected blood community and patient organisations during the public consultation earlier this year.
Speaking in the House of Commons on 14 April, Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds MP said the changes reflect the need to better recognise people’s individual experiences and compensate them fairly, without placing additional administrative burden on applicants to provide more evidence.
A key change is the introduction of a new supplementary award for those eligible under the Special Category Mechanism (the Severely Affected classification within the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme). This will provide additional payments for financial loss and care, backdated to 2017, and includes recognition of psychological harm and its impact on people’s ability to work and on daily life.
There are also several changes to how financial loss and care are calculated. These include removing the 25% deduction from past care awards for those choosing ongoing support, and a commitment that the most financially beneficial calculation for past financial loss will be used. A £60,000 uplift will also be available for people who were unable to pursue higher-earning careers due to their infection.
Updates to the unethical research award include a significant expansion in eligibility, with anyone treated for a bleeding disorder before 1986 now included irrespective of their haemophilia centre. Payment levels have also increased to £60,000 for those treated at Treloar’s College, £45,000 for those treated as children elsewhere, and £30,000 for those treated as adults.
There is greater recognition of the impact of being infected as a child, with a 50% uplift to the core Autonomy award for those infected under 18. Bereaved families will also receive a 50% uplift to core Injury awards in certain circumstances.
People affected by interferon treatment will receive additional compensation through a new Level 2B category recognising the side effects of treatment, including further financial loss and care support. Separate payments will be calculated for each round of interferon treatment.
These measures will now need to be set out in legislation and approved by Parliament, which is expected before the summer recess. In the meantime, compensation claims will continue to be processed as normal, and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority will contact anyone eligible for additional payments in due course.
You can read the Government response in full here. The Technical Expert Group advice has also been published and can be found here.
Haemophilia Scotland welcomes these changes, which address several concerns raised by our community during the consultation. The additional core and supplementary awards, recognition of those who experienced the horrific side effects of interferon, alongside the expansion of the unethical research award, are all important steps forward.
However, there are still areas where more could have been done for living and deceased infected people, as well as those affected. We will continue to raise these concerns with the UK Government as the legislation is finalised over the coming months.