MPs back compensation scheme for patients given infected blood

MPs have voted to establish a compensation scheme for NHS patients who were given infected blood, delivering a first parliamentary defeat for the prime minister.The move is designed to speed up the paying of compensation. There is an ongoing public statutory inquiry1 into how thousands of patients, including many with haemophilia, were given blood and blood products infected with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s.The amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill—tabled by Labour MP Diana Johnson—was narrowly passed by 246 votes to 242 after 22 Conservative MPs rebelled.The government will now be required to establish a body to administer compensation within three months of a new bill becoming law, subject to its approval by the House of Lords.The government has previously said there was a “moral case” for paying compensation to victims, and interim payments of £100 000 each have already been paid to about 4000…
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