Bereaved infected blood families told to repay £10,000 compensation after government error
Bereaved spouses of infected blood victims have been told to return their compensation, The Telegraph can reveal.
Since July, 12 bereaved partners have received letters asking them to return £10,000 payments made up to five years ago.
In a copy of the letter seen by this newspaper, the Government said it had paid the money by mistake: "Unfortunately [...] you were not eligible for the bereavement lump sum and should not have received this payment. We sincerely apologise that this error was not identified at an earlier stage."
The recipients of the letters had lost spouses and long-term partners to HIV and hepatitis viruses in the infected blood scandal, considered the worst treatment disaster in NHS history. Many are owed large sums in compensation from the Government.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Cabinet Office have suspended the payment requests after several charities and The Telegraph raised the issue. The departments said they were considering "the right and fair outcome" for the group who received the £10,000 in error.
But one widow who received the letter said: "It just feels so callous. To receive this letter out of the blue saying we’re going to deduct £10,000 – it’s so ill-judged and disappointing."
The Hepatitis C Trust said it was a "horrendous" way to treat victims of the scandal.
Rachel Halford, the charity’s chief executive, said: "If the aim of compensation was to provide peace and resolution to those who’ve suffered, the thought that at any moment they might be contacted to repay part of it flies in the face of that.
"It is unforgivable that people who’ve been through so much now have to live with the fear that the recompense they received for an injustice inflicted on them by the state may be taken away from them, even if the fault for the error lies with the Government."
More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses between the 1970s and 1990s after being given contaminated blood transfusions and blood-clotting products. More than 3,000 died.
The Government has agreed to pay billions to the victims and their families in an official compensation scheme.
However, some were already receiving financial support through the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS), which launched in 2017.
One form of compensation was a £10,000 one-off payment for those whose spouse or partner died before November 2017.
But in 2021, the rules changed so only those whose partners died after November 2017 could receive the payment. The Government said this was to align the scheme with Scotland and Wales.
However, it has since emerged that the Government mistakenly sent the £10,000 payments to 12 individuals whose partners had died before 2017.
The EIBSS noticed the error while making assurance checks ahead of its transfer to the official infected blood compensation scheme.
The Telegraph spoke to one widow who received a letter telling her to repay £10,000. The sender, NHS Business Services Authority, the administrator of an earlier support scheme, suggested reducing her monthly payments from the initial scheme by £1,000 until the sum was recovered. The £10,000 is classed as an interim payment and those affected are also entitled to other compensation from the scheme.
Sarah, which is not her real name, said: "For me, it’s not about the money – it’s the way they did it. The Government says all these things about treating the infected blood community with empathy and then you get this letter and you think, ’do you really mean it?’"
She said she became her husband’s carer after he fell ill. "It was a really hard time. I kept working and paying the mortgage. It was only years later the impact hit me."
The incident also raised questions about the fairness of paying some widows £10,000 and not others. "It appears it was only for recently bereaved spouses and partners – so because I lost him 30 years ago, I don’t qualify for a bereavement payment," said Sarah.
A government spokesman said: "This issue was brought to the attention of ministers in the DHSC and Cabinet Office in recent days, and they have told officials to suspend any repayment requests while we consider the right and fair outcome for the small group of people who were paid incorrectly in the past.
"Our thoughts remain with all the victims and families who suffered from the appalling injustice of the infected blood scandal, and nobody will want to see those families facing any more hardship or unfairness as a result of failings by the state."
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