Never Again: Justice for Contaminated Blood Victims

Submitted by: 11 party members
Mover: Jess Brown–Fuller MP (Spokesperson for Hospitals and Primary Care)
Summation: To be announced.

Conference notes that:

1. Over 30,000 individuals were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated NHS blood products during the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths and causing immeasurable suffering to victims and their families.
2. The subsequent inquiry found that the disaster was largely avoidable and was exacerbated by a “subtle, pervasive and chilling” cover–up by the NHS and successive Governments.
3. In February 2025, the Government expanded the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme to include more relatives and carers, but concerns remain over delays and lack of transparency, with many still awaiting proper acknowledgement and redress.
4. Despite promising to extend the duty of candour to all public officials under the Hillsborough law by April 2025, the Government is yet to deliver this vital reform.
5. The Infected Blood Scandal is one of many scandals involving medical negligence which, taken together, have caused thousands of avoidable deaths and left tens of thousands living with painful and damaging lifelong impacts.
6. Medical scandals come at a huge financial cost for the taxpayer, with £11.8 billion allocated to compensate infected blood victims and annual NHS compensation payouts reaching nearly £3 billion last year.
7. Medical scandals often disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalised populations, compounding health inequalities.

Conference believes that:

1. Victims and families of the Infected Blood Scandal deserve full justice, recognition, and timely compensation.
2. The Government’s apology and creation of a compensation scheme were welcome steps, but ongoing delays and lack of transparency are undermining victims’ trust and prolonging their suffering.
3. The Government’s choice to drag its feet over implementing the Inquiry’s recommendations means that vital actions needed to prevent future scandals are not being taken.
4. It is not only the victims of the Infected Blood Scandal that have suffered at the hands of medical negligence, but also victims of the multiple maternity care scandals, the vaginal mesh scandal, the sodium valproate scandal and the Primodos scandal among many others – each of which we must learn from to prevent future harm.

Conference calls on the Government to:

1. Deliver justice for those affected by the Infected Blood Scandal by:
   1. Immediately and efficiently processing all compensation claims under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, ensuring that no eligible individual is left behind.
   2. Implementing all the inquiry’s recommendations and reporting annually to Parliament on progress in an oral statement delivered by the Minister.
   3. Delivering a permanent memorial to ensure “the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS” is not forgotten.
2. Provide ongoing support for victims of all medical scandals and their families, including access to healthcare, psychological services, and social support to address long–term impacts and tackle compounded health inequalities.
3. End the culture of cover–up exposed by the Infected Blood Inquiry and other scandal inquiries and prevent future medical scandals by:
   1. Immediately introducing legislation to impose a statutory duty of candour on all public officials to promote transparency.
   2. Establishing a Patient Safety Taskforce, overseen by the Patient Safety Agency, to improve data sharing across NHS bodies, analyse patient risk, and coordinate safety responsibilities effectively.
   3. Mandating Integrated Care Boards to include patient voices at board level, through organisations like Healthwatch, ensuring patient experiences shape healthcare delivery.
   4. Incorporating an ‘Ending Medical Negligence’ curriculum into clinician training, featuring testimonies from victims of medical scandals to ensure mistakes are not repeated.
4. Commit to investing any future savings from the almost £3 billion in NHS annual compensation payouts into frontline services, to deliver better quality care to all.

Applicability: Federal, except for 2., (lines 54–57), 3. b–d) (lines 64–73), and 4. (lines 74–76), which are England only.

Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 6-7 of the agenda. You can submit a speaker's card online here from Monday 15 September up to 16.00 Monday 22 September or in person.

The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 Monday 8 September; you can submit amendments online here, see pages 9–10 of the agenda for more information. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday’s Conference Daily. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 Sunday 21 September; you can request separate votes here, see page 5 of the agenda for more information.