On Saturday, 18th January Haemophilia Scotland and the Scottish Infected Blood Forum held a joint meeting with representatives of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) to discuss implementation of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. Attendees included Sir Robert Francis (Interim Chair), David Foley (Interim Chief Executive), and Rachel Forster (Interim Director of Communications) from the IBCA, who addressed questions from members of both organisations.
The meeting began with Sir Robert Francis providing an update on the development of the IBCA and progress with initial compensation applications. David Foley and Rachel Forster then explained the current testing phase in more detail, which is expected to run until the end of March. During this phase, up to 250 claims across various categories of infection and locations will be processed to help improve the system and make it ready to grow exponentially.
The meeting featured a question-and-answer session where attendees raised the following key concerns and issues:
- Suitability of IBCA staff training and the perception that claims may be undervalued.
- The difficulty in evidencing the physical and psychological effects on children of infected victims.
- Clarification of how to handle unknown infection dates versus treatment dates in applications.
- Timelines for applications from individuals infected with hepatitis B or other infections not covered by existing support schemes.
- Plans to share anonymous case studies of successful claims to guide others.
- Recognition of the harms caused by treatments for hepatitis C.
- Challenges in submitting claims when supporting medical records are missing.
- Expected release of the IBCA compensation calculator.
- Opportunities for further community involvement in IBCA processes.
The meeting concluded with Sir Robert Francis thanking participants for their courage and honesty in raising important issues.
A full recording of the meeting will be available on Haemophilia Scotland’s YouTube channel. To request the link, please email hello@haemophilia.scot. Additionally, we will publish a document from the IBCA on our website addressing any unanswered questions from the meeting in due course.