「我怕我還沒等到兒子獲得公道，人就不在了」
BBC Wales Investigates｜報導時間：3 天前
📍根據倡議者指出，在等待賠償的同時，感染血案的受害者正以「每週兩人」的速度死亡。這是英國國民健保體系（NHS）史上最大的醜聞。
自 1970 年代末到 1990 年代初，英國超過 3 萬人接受到含有 HIV 和 C 型肝炎的污染血製品，已有超過 3,000 人因此死亡。
89 歲的 Tony Summers 說，他的兒子 Paul 因這些血製品感染 HIV 和 C 型肝炎，已於 2008 年病逝。他收到通知，可能要等到 2029 年才會拿到賠償金。他很擔心撐不到那時候。
⏳這場悲劇的真相，在 2024 年五月的公開調查報告中被揭開——英國政府長期掩蓋感染血品的嚴重程度。
政府預留了 118 億英鎊作為補償預算，預估涵蓋高達 14 萬名受害者的家庭，包括父母、孩子、兄弟姊妹等。
但很多人對賠償程序的設計和進度都感到不滿，就連主持這場調查的法官也批評賠償進度太慢。
Tony 說：「我們從 1984 年就開始為正義奔走，我不希望到頭來一切都白費。我這輩子最重要的事，就是讓這件事有個交代。我只想結束這一切。」
他的太太 Pat 也一起走訪兒子的墓園，說：「我們都很害怕等不到看到政府負責的那天。」
📉Lynne Kelly 是「威爾斯血友病協會」主席，這 40 年來，她都在替受害者發聲。她說：
「每週兩個人離開。我們都在倒數。政府拖得越久，就有越多人死去。當感染者死去，他們的申請權利也消失，國家就不用賠了。這根本是等人死光。」
目前，只有 40 人獲得賠償。
🧾 根據官方資料，賠償金如下：
- 感染 HIV 者：£220萬–£260萬
- 慢性 C 肝感染者：£66萬–£81萬
- 感染者現任伴侶：£11萬
- 另有 4,000 名倖存者或遺族，自 2022 年起領到最高 £31 萬的初步補償。
📌負責補償的 IBCA（感染血賠償管理局）表示，他們「會在 2027 年前儘速處理大部分感染者的賠償，並在 2029 年完成對其他受影響者的賠償。」
但這一切，來得及嗎？
‘I fear I’ll be dead before I get justice for my son’
3 days agoShareSave
Sian Vivian
BBC Wales Investigates
Wyre Davies
BBC Wales Investigates
1:03Tony Summers, whose son died after contracting HIV and Hepatitis C from infected blood products, says he “just wants this to be over”
Victims of infected blood are dying “two a week” while awaiting compensation for the biggest scandal in the history of the NHS, campaigners say.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were given treatments infected with HIV and Hepatitis C between the late 1970s and early 1990s, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths.
Tony Summers, 89, whose son died after being given infected blood products, said he was told he may not receive compensation until 2029 and fears he might be dead before then.
A Labour MP described the delay as “embarrassing”, while the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) said its priority was to pay compensation to “as many people as soon as possible”.
What is the infected blood scandal?
In May 2024, a public inquiry found the authorities had covered up the scale of what is now known as the infected blood scandal.
In response, the UK government set aside £11.8bn to compensate the victims – including parents, children and siblings – of which there could be as many as 140,000.
But many victims, charities and the inquiry’s chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, have expressed concern about the way compensation is being implemented and the time it is taking.
Forty people have accepted offers of compensation so far according to the IBCA.
‘I just want this to be over’
Mr Summers’ son Paul was diagnosed with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given a blood clotting product used to treat haemophilia.
He died in 2008 at the age of 44.
“I just feel so proud of what [Paul] achieved, because he had so much to offer,” said Mr Summers, from Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.
“I would like to feel that everything we started in 1984, which has been a long journey, we won’t have lost it.
“We will have achieved and that will give me more satisfaction than anything. Just to feel that we did the right thing.
“It’s probably the most important thing in my life to get to the end of this, to get closure. I just want this to be over.”
Mr Summers claims to have been told he may not receive compensation until 2029 – five years after the inquiry’s final report was published.
“By then I’ll be 93, you begin to have doubts,” he said.
“People are still dying from any affected illnesses. Parents are dying. So it feels as though there’s a policy [of] ‘if we hang on long enough we won’t have to pay that money’.”
‘People are dying two a week’
Lynne Kelly, chair of Haemophilia Wales, said people wanted closure after campaigning for more than four decades.
“People are dying two a week at the moment, so we’re in a really difficult position,” she said.
“They’re delaying and delaying because more and more people are dying.
“The infected are dying, and when the affected die their claim dies with them so there’s no claim to be made and bit by bit, less and less people will be eligible for compensation and less money will be paid.
“They’ve been ignored for 40 years, they’ve campaigned for 40 years. We feel history is repeating itself. It’s heart-breaking.”
How much compensation will victims receive?
The IBCA is administering payments, which are exempt from tax and will not affect benefits.
A person infected with HIV could expect to get compensation of between £2.2m and £2.6m.
Those with a chronic hepatitis C infection, defined as lasting more than six months, could expect to receive between £665,000 and £810,000.
The partner of someone infected with HIV who is still alive today could expect to receive about £110,000.
Around 4,000 survivors or their bereaved families have also received interim payments worth up to £310,000 since 2022.
1:27Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously issued an ‘unequivocal apology’ to victims of the infected blood scandal
Labour MP Clive Efford, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, said the situation had become “an embarrassing issue for the government”.
“We owe it to these people to get this compensation out the door as quickly as possible because they’ve been suffering as a consequence of this for many, many years, they’ve been forced to take on the state.”
David Foley, Interim Chief Executive of the IBCA, said its priority was to pay “as many people as soon as possible as we design and build a compensation claim service”.
Mr Foley said the IBCA had now contacted more than 250 people but he said they were “acutely aware there are many more awaiting compensation”.
“We will continue to increase the number of compensation payments made as we build the claims service further,” he added.
“We are committed to making payments to the majority of infected people by 2027 and the majority of affected people by 2029 – making these payments faster than this wherever possible.”
