As well as increasing the overall amount of money allocated to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (IBCS), the Government has pledged to make various adjustments to the existing scheme – for example, it will;
· Recognise psychological harm via a new supplementary award;
· Compensate those who received interferon treatment in a new severity banding;
· Increase the core award available to bereaved parents, partners and children/siblings with no additional evidence requirement;
· Establish a new category for those who were prevented from fulfilling a well-paid career or had disrupted career progression due to their infection;
· Increase the awards for those who were subjected to unethical research such as the former pupils at Treloar’s school;
· Remove the deduction applied to past care compensation for people who choose to receive support scheme payments for life.
All of this was described as being in response to the recent consultation on the workings of the IBCS and a result of listening to feedback from the infected blood community.
Mr Thomas-Symonds also promised to establish a new channel for the community to raise additional concerns about the design and delivery of the IBCS with quarterly feedback reports.
On the face of it these measures are undoubtedly positive for our clients, however legislation is still required to enact the changes so it may take a few months yet before the additional awards can be accessed and of benefit. We will spend the next days working through the detail of the documents the Government has provided to understand fully the new categories that will be created and the criteria that will apply. Some awards may need to be recalculated but not immediately, until the changes take effect. As ever, the Government is keen this sounds generous to the infected blood community but the timescales remain somewhat unclear.
To view Nick Thomas-Symonds statement in full
Source: House of Commons – Infected Blood Statement
Bell Yard Communications: Louise Beeson: louise@bell-yard.com / Mob: 07768 956997
