‘Whitewash’ fury of blood scandal victims: £12m six-year inquiry only makes ONE suggestion

Lord Penrose was tasked by Scottish ministers to examine how thousands of patients became infected with Hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and 80s.

But after a six-year probe costing £12million, the retired judge concluded little could have been done differently to prevent the infections. And he made just one recommendation – that anyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion before 1991 should be tested for the deadly viruses.

The publication of the 1,800-page document prompted apologies from the Prime Minister and the Scottish Government but victims and their relatives said it lacked answers.

Some campaigners burned a copy of the report outside the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh where a conference was held.

Glenn Wilkinson, from the Contaminated Blood Campaign, said: “I feel totally devastated. 

“We didn’t expect the world, but we certainly expected a lot more than that. It has created a new level of disappointment. I don’t think we’ve had a single answer from what was said in there.”

More than 2,000 people in the UK died after being given infected blood products and thousands of others had their lives destroyed.

Hundreds of those affected were in Scotland, which was the only part of the UK to hold an official inquiry.

The victims were given blood from high-risk donors such as prostitutes and prisoners during treatment on the NHS.

Lord Penrose found that more should have been done to screen blood and donors for Hepatitis C and that the collection of blood from prisoners should have stopped earlier.

On HIV infections, the inquiry found that, once the risk had emerged, “all that could reasonably be done was done”.

It insisted that action taken in Scotland compared favourably with the way other countries around the world reacted.

Lord Penrose, former chairman of the Court of Heriot-Watt University, is seriously ill and was not present at the publication event in Edinburgh yesterday.

Inquiry secretary Maria McCann said: “The inquiry concludes that it is unfortunate that the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service did not consider stopping this practice until 1982.

“Given the limitations in the information available at that time it is not clear, however, that earlier consideration would have stopped the practice.” 

In a statement Lord Penrose commented on the “forgotten suffering” of clinical staff who administered the tainted blood products.

He said: “This is the stuff of nightmares, and they too have suffered, especially when accused of knowing or deliberate attempts to harm patients, of which the inquiry found no evidence.” 

Bill Wright, from Haemophilia Scotland insisted that “this is by no means the end of the story”. He contracted Hepatitis C from a contaminated transfusion and told delegates: “It’s not about broken processes, it’s about broken lives. We will never get the complete truth because too many people have died while waiting for the inquiry.”

A statement from Haemophilia Scotland later added: “The Scottish public will be shocked at the level of suffering caused by the greatest scandal ever to engulf the NHS.”

Stephen Wheatley, 53, a haemophiliac who was infected with Hepatitis C, added: “It doesn’t go deep enough, it doesn’t give everybody’s story. Everybody’s case should have been in there. I’ve been through a liver transplant and it’s affecting my new liver.”

John Cassar said: “There was more sympathy for the doctors rather than for the patients. What about the people that were dying? There was no mention of them and it’s shocking.”

PM David Cameron apologised to those affected and confirmed £25million of funding to improve financial support for the victims.

SNP Health Secretary, Shona Robison, accepted the recommendation to provide the blood tests and said that the Scottish Government will review and improve financial support schemes for victims.