24 July 2023 , 16:43
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Penny Mordaunt has blamed the “chaotic” period of Covid for compensation delays for victims of the NHS infected blood scandal.
The top Tory, who was paymaster general between 2020 and 2021, suggested then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak was preoccupied with the pandemic..
She said there was a breakdown in communications between departments, with lockdowns making it much harder to get direct contact with ministers.
Giving evidence to the public inquiry into the scandal, Ms Mordaunt said “it was a stressful period in trying to push things forward in particular that weren’t directly related to the pandemic response”.
The Leader of the House of Commons added: “The normal routes where you would be able to see a minister were not available to us at this time.
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Penny Mordaunt said: 'It was a stressful period in trying to push things forward' (Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)“During the course of normal parliamentary business - in voting lobbies and other places - you’d be bumping into colleagues, you’d be able to speak to them directly. This was a period of time where we didn’t have those options. We were largely driven by correspondence and private office to private office discussions.”
In written documents submitted to the inquiry Mr Sunak admitted “it is unclear” whether he saw two letters to him from Ms Mordaunt calling for the Treasury to take action to compensate victims. He added: “I cannot recall giving consideration to the question of compensation for people infected and affected by the use of infected blood and blood products during my time as CX (Chancellor).”
Ms Mordaunt described how she’d attempted to secure a meeting with Treasury officials but was unsuccessful. “I didn’t get any formal response but I know that the bandwidth of those departments was very stretched during the pandemic,” she said.
Bereaved relatives of victims of the NHS infected blood scandal delivered a letter to No10 calling for full compensation this afternoon.
The inquiry was established in 2017 to examine how thousands of patients in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. About 2,400 people died in what has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
Inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff has said that an interim compensation scheme should be widened so more people - including orphaned children and parents who lost children - could be compensated. He said in April that he was taking the unusual step of publishing the recommendation ahead of the publication of the full report into the scandal so that victims would not face any more delays.
Under the initial scheme, victims themselves or bereaved partners can receive an interim payment of around £100,000. The inquiry has recommended the Government establish an arms-length compensation body now and definitely before the final report in the autumn.
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