Correspondence

IBCA Newsletter, 17 September 2024

Updated 11 October 2024

A message from Sir Robert Francis KC, interim Chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority

Hello,

As outlined in our previous update, the Government has now formalised the details on who is eligible for, and how we will calculate, compensation for those who suffered infections from blood or blood products. This important step (where regulations are laid in Parliament) now allows the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) with the help of this community to get the scheme up and running.

After listening to feedback from this community, I made 74 recommendations for how the new compensation scheme could operate in practice. I am pleased that the Government accepted the vast majority of those recommendations. For the five not accepted, these were for practical reasons to allow the Government to put in place the legal framework to deliver. The scheme also now broadly follows the recommendations made by Sir Brian Langstaff and reflects advice from the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group. 

I recognise that while broadly welcomed as a positive step forward, some have expressed disagreement with some of the details. I am afraid this was inevitable, as realistically no scheme designed to ensure that fair and proportionate compensation is awarded as quickly and simply as possible is likely to satisfy everyone. There are many different circumstances within this community that a compensation scheme needs to consider, and I have aimed to balance this with the need to pay compensation as quickly as we can.

These first regulations do not cover how the scheme will work for those who are affected (ie those who have loved and cared for those who are infected) or additional supplementary payments (for example where unethical testing took place without consent). I know that this may upset and worry many of you. Please be assured that those affected by this tragedy have not been forgotten, and we expect a second set of regulations to follow as soon as is practical. Not all the regulations could be finalised in time for the Government’s first deadline in August, and that’s why regulations for those who have been infected were prioritised. This means that those who are infected and eligible, or where relevant their estate, will have their core applications for compensation considered first.

The Government is planning to publish a second set of regulations to cover those affected, while we at the IBCA also continue working on building the service to deliver a compensation scheme for all those eligible across the community - both infected and affected. We will keep you informed on how work is progressing via this regular email, and aim to answer some of the questions you have been raising in this update too.

As our team works hard to set up the complex organisation required to deliver, I want to ensure we continue to listen to your views and take them into account. Over the coming weeks and months I will be speaking with a range of groups representing this community alongside David Foley, IBCA’s Chief Executive. Although we hope this covers a wide range of members among this community, we are aware that not everyone who has a point of view on how the Authority should go about its business will be represented, and I am keen to find a way to talk to as many in this community as we can. We are also planning further ways of talking to those who want to share their views with us, and will share more details soon.

Thank you and I look forward to speaking with many of you soon,

Sir Robert Francis

Chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority

Your most commonly asked questions

We’ll be sharing the most common questions we receive, and answering them in this regular update. Please see the latest questions and answers below.

When will compensation start to be paid?

For those who are infected, we’re aiming for the very first payments to be made before the end of 2024, but this does depend on how quickly we can build the service that balances speed with ease of use and data security. We’ll need to start small to ensure we get this right, working with this community through every stage of the development. 

This does mean that although some early payments will go out in late 2024 as we test the application and payment system, we expect to scale up this service further in early 2025 once we have learnt valuable lessons from those early payments. Taking this approach and adapting as we go will help us design a service that will ultimately be simpler and speedier for everyone. 

As we develop the claim service that delivers compensation, we’ll always be aiming to get the money to you as soon as possible. We would like to work with as many of you as possible to develop this, and will be in touch over the coming months with some of those who have signed up to be involved in IBCA developments - you can sign up at gov.uk/ibca if you haven’t done so already.

What else is IBCA doing before payments can be made?

There are other steps that we’ll be taking soon to make payments possible, and give you more information to prepare beforehand.

We are:

1. Developing an eligibility checker, so you can see if you are eligible to apply for compensation.

2. Exploring how we can give you an estimate of how much compensation you may receive, before the service opens for claims.

3. Working with existing support schemes and other agencies to see how data already submitted can be transferred, reducing the need to ask again for this information. You can still claim via a support scheme if you’re not already registered. You can do this by contacting the scheme for your nation:

England Infected Blood Support Scheme

• Tel: 0300 330 1294
• Email: eibss@nhsbsa.nhs.uk 

Infected Blood Support Payment Scheme (Northern Ireland)

• Tel: 02895 363 817
• Email: bso.ibss@hscni.net 

Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme

• Tel: 0131 275 6754
• Email: NSS.SIBSS@nhs.scot

Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme

• Tel: 02921 500 900
• Email: wibss@wales.nhs.uk

How much compensation am I likely to be eligible for?

We are exploring how we can give you an estimate of how much compensation you may receive before the service opens for claims.  We will keep you updated once this is developed.

Keep in touch with IBCA

If you know someone who would like to receive our regular updates but has not yet signed up, then they can do so here: Smartsurvey or by telephone, calling 0141 726 2397. The opening hours are 09:00-17:00, Monday - Friday (excluding public holidays).

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Always report suspicious text messages or scam calls free of charge by texting 7726. 

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You can report fraud or cyber crime any time at www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report it to the Police by calling 101. If you are a victim of fraud, report it to your bank.