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Campaign & Accountability

Coverage of government, Parliament, IBCA leadership, transparency, campaigning and scrutiny. This section tracks the decisions being made now and the questions the community continues to put to those in authority.

Latest in Campaign & Accountability

Midnight-blue editorial graphic for The Unheard Voice featuring the headline “We Have Come Too Far to Go Back: One Voice Builds a More Inclusive Future.” Silhouettes of campaigners stand before the Houses of Parliament beneath a dramatic sky, with a red ribbon symbolising the infected blood scandal. The graphic highlights The Unheard Voice's 92,457 views over 28 days and calls for greater inclusion, independence and representation.
Campaign & Accountability

We Have Come Too Far to Go Back: One Voice Builds a More Inclusive Future

Following discussions about greater unity within the infected blood community, Infected Blood One Voice has chosen independence over compromise, strengthening relationships across different infections and affected groups. With The Unheard Voice reaching 92,457 views in 28 days, a new generation of grassroots campaigning and independent journalism is challenging exclusion, championing representation and proving that unity means making room for everyone — not just the established voices.

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The Unheard Voice investigative graphic titled “Invited to Claim, Left Waiting?” showing a large stack of compensation claim files labelled “Awaiting Policy”, “Declarations”, “Assessment” and “Payment”. An hourglass and unfinished checklist symbolise delays in the infected blood compensation process, alongside the words “The Delays Demand Answers”.
Campaign & Accountability

Invited to Claim, Left Waiting: Is IBCA's Compensation System Becoming Its Own Bottleneck?

Invitations to claim infected blood compensation are increasing, but thousands remain without payment. Families describe months of uncertainty, unresolved policy questions and mounting psychological distress. The Unheard Voice examines whether the system is equipped to finish the claims it has already started — and announces plans to follow one of its own editorial team's claims from beginning to end.

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A haunting Halloween night scene with a glowing pumpkin, candles and empty chairs beneath a moonlit sky. Framed photographs and a folded blanket symbolise the loved ones lost to the infected blood scandal and the families left behind.
Campaign & Accountability

The Nightmare That Never Ended: Halloween Through the Eyes of the Infected Blood Community

While Britain celebrates ghosts and horror stories this Halloween, thousands of families affected by the infected blood scandal are living with a nightmare that was never imaginary. Behind the empty chairs are stolen lives, lost childhoods and loved ones who never came home. More than two years after the Inquiry's final report, why are so many families still fighting to be heard?

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AI-generated illustration of an older adult reading medical records at a kitchen table beside an empty chair. Rain falls outside. Text reads: “When will we be heard? A scandal within a scandal.”
Campaign & Accountability

A Scandal Within a Scandal: How Much More Must We Suffer Before We Are Heard?

Bereaved parents are revisiting their children’s suffering. Adult children are discovering the illnesses their parents tried to protect them from. As families continue waiting for compensation, Sarah from Infected Blood One Voice warns that the process intended to deliver justice risks deepening their trauma—and demands to know when listening will finally become action.

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Editorial illustration of an older person seated beside medical paperwork and an empty chair, with Parliament beyond the window. White and gold text reads: “Bonuses for what? The infected blood community is at breaking point.”
Campaign & Accountability

Bonuses for What? The Infected Blood Community Is at Breaking Point

Get those coffees ready and make yourself comfortable—this is a long read, because these experiences deserve space. From executive bonuses to stalled claims, disputed evidence and warnings campaigners say went unheeded, we examine a compensation process leaving families at breaking point—and ask what performance is being rewarded while people still wait for justice.

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Midnight-blue Unheard Voice graphic featuring Susan smiling beside the headline: “Still waiting. Time is running out.” Supporting text says her family reports she is at the end of her life and still waiting for a compensation top-up.
Campaign & Accountability

Susan is at the end of her life—and still waiting

Susan’s family says she is still waiting for a compensation top-up linked to changes in legislation as her health deteriorates. In this follow-up, they question whether her assessment fully recognises her lasting liver damage, complex health problems and loss of independence.

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Midnight blue illustration of an older person holding a mug beside a radiator and rain-covered window, with Parliament in the background. Text reads: “Same need for warmth—Different access to winter support.” The Unheard Voice branding appears below.
Campaign & Accountability

Same need for warmth—different access to winter support

An anonymous reader asks why recognition through IBCA does not automatically bring entitlement to the annual infected blood winter fuel payment. We examine who qualifies and how heating needs are recognised for those outside the earlier support schemes.

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A dramatic midnight-blue image showing a grieving mother embracing two children, with the Houses of Parliament in the background. A contaminated blood bag, scales of justice and compensation figures highlight differences between the infected blood and Post Office Horizon compensation schemes. The headline reads: “When Did Grief Get an Age Limit?” The Unheard Voice branding appears in the lower corner.
Campaign & Accountability

When Did Grief Get an Age Limit?

A scandal that stole lives, childhoods, careers and futures. Yet families affected by infected blood still face compensation rules based on age, dependency and inheritance laws. As other national redress schemes allow individual assessments of psychological harm, The Unheard Voice asks why lifelong trauma, lost opportunities and the sacrifices of bereaved families are not more fully recognised.

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A dark midnight-blue investigative graphic showing a blood bag labelled with a batch number, old medical files stamped “not recorded,” a hospital corridor with a lone figure, and grieving family silhouettes. The headline reads: “The Evidence That Was Never Recorded,” with the subtitle: “Batch numbers, missing records and unregistered claims.”
Campaign & Accountability

The Evidence That Was Never Recorded: Are Infected Blood Victims Being Penalised for Missing NHS Records?

The Infected Blood Inquiry exposed serious historical failures in recording and tracing contaminated blood and blood products. Now, previously unregistered living victims and bereaved families face difficult questions about missing batch numbers, destroyed medical records and the evidence needed for compensation. The Unheard Voice investigates whether these gaps could lead to unfair Hepatitis C severity classifications, potentially reducing compensation and leaving affected relatives ineligible. Working with Infected Blood One Voice, Kevin Roberts is calling for people affected by these issues to come forward and share their experiences.

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A sombre memorial-style graphic for The Unheard Voice shows a lit candle, a framed photo of a blurred figure, and white flowers on a wooden table by a softly lit window. Large text reads, “The Families Still Waiting for Someone to Say Their Death Mattered.” Smaller text explains that many bereaved families feel the compensation process acknowledges illness, care and financial loss more clearly than the fact that a person died, and asks whether death itself has been properly recognised. Handwritten notes say, “Not just a statistic. A person. A family. A life.” and “Because they mattered. Still do.”
Campaign & Accountability

When the Process Becomes the Penalty: A Campaigner’s Story

Why Mark Lawler Is Speaking Out: When the Process Becomes the Penalty Behind every infected blood compensation claim is a person, a family and a history that cannot be reduced to paperwork. In this personal statement, Mark Lawler describes the emotional, physical and financial strain of pursuing a compensation claim for his late mother, Margaret Angela Lawler. He recounts months of delays, repeated administrative requirements and uncertainty about when the process will finally reach a conclusion. Mark is a peer supporter for the Hepatitis B Positive Trust and has spent years supporting members of the infected blood community. His account highlights a difficult reality: those who spend their time helping others can also find themselves struggling under the weight of the system they are navigating. His statement raises important questions about transparency, consistency and the impact prolonged delays can have on claimants and their families. Compensation is intended to address historic harm. The process of seeking it should not create avoidable additional distress. This is Mark’s personal experience, shared in his own words. It is not a finding that every claimant has experienced the same problems. It is, however, a reminder that behind every claim is a human being waiting for answers, recognition and a fair outcome. **The Unheard Voice** believes lived experience must be heard alongside official updates and policy explanations. Mark’s account adds an important perspective to the ongoing conversation about how the infected blood compensation scheme operates in practice.

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IBCA, We Talk to Each Other. Families are comparing invitation dates and the explanations they receive about compensation priorities. The Unheard Voice is calling for an independent examination of IBCA’s invitation sequencing, telephone advice and operational records. We see you. We hear you. We want accountability.
Campaign & Accountability

IBCA, WE TALK TO EACH OTHER: The Invitation Queue, Conflicting Answers and a Community Demanding Accountability

Put the kettle on and make yourself a cuppa — this is a long one. The infected blood community is comparing notes, and serious questions are emerging about IBCA’s invitation sequencing. Families report being told claims are progressing through particular age groups or interim-payment categories, yet others in apparently different categories have already been invited. The Unheard Voice has examined anonymised community accounts alongside IBCA’s published rules and statistics. We investigate the apparent contradictions, the distress they are causing and why families deserve more than another reassuring statement. We see you. We hear you. And we want accountability. We have the accounts. Now we want the records.

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A solitary person sits at a table in a dimly lit home, surrounded by paperwork, a family photograph, an empty chair, a calendar marked with passing days, a suitcase and worn shoes. The midnight-blue scene reflects years of lost opportunities and sacrifice, with the headline: “When Compensation Comes Too Late to Repair What Was Lost.”
Campaign & Accountability

When Compensation Comes Too Late to Repair What Was Lost

Compensation can recognise financial loss, care and suffering — but some consequences cannot be restored years later: careers abandoned, relationships changed, homes lost, pensions reduced and decades spent surviving rather than living. It gives us a strong human piece without repeating the recent articles, and it gives us loads of visual material for the reel too.

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A woman sits overwhelmed at a desk surrounded by stacks of paperwork labelled medical records, probate, evidence, emails, legal advice and IBCA correspondence. The headline reads: “A Compensation Scheme Shouldn’t Create a Second Full-Time Job.”
Campaign & Accountability

A Compensation Scheme Shouldn’t Create a Second Full-Time Job

For many infected blood families, claiming compensation means far more than completing a form. It can involve finding decades-old records, dealing with probate, gathering evidence, reading complex guidance and repeatedly chasing answers. The scheme is supposed to deliver recognition and redress — not create another exhausting workload for people already carrying the consequences of the scandal.

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A sombre memorial-style graphic for The Unheard Voice shows a lit candle, a framed photo of a blurred figure, and white flowers on a wooden table by a softly lit window. Large text reads, “The Families Still Waiting for Someone to Say Their Death Mattered.” Smaller text explains that many bereaved families feel the compensation process acknowledges illness, care and financial loss more clearly than the fact that a person died, and asks whether death itself has been properly recognised. Handwritten notes say, “Not just a statistic. A person. A family. A life.” and “Because they mattered. Still do.”
Campaign & Accountability

The Families Still Waiting for Someone to Say Their Death Mattered

For many bereaved families, the compensation process still feels better at describing illness, care and financial loss than acknowledging the final consequence of the scandal: a person died. This article asks whether death itself has been recognised clearly enough — and why that acknowledgement matters so deeply to the families left behind.

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A dark blue editorial image showing families standing in a queue outside Parliament, holding letters and comparing documents. Envelopes are labelled “Invitation”, “Next Steps”, “Further Information” and “Under Review”, while a calendar asks “Still waiting?”. The headline reads: “When Families Compare Notes – Why IBCA’s invitation queue still needs more clarity.”
Campaign & Accountability

When Families Compare Notes: Why IBCA’s Invitation Queue Still Needs More Clarity

IBCA has published a prioritisation order for compensation claims, including people nearing end of life, those with advanced liver disease, people aged 75 or over, and other priority groups. But within the infected blood community, families comparing their experiences are still struggling to understand why people in apparently similar circumstances can be contacted at very different times.

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Archival-style image showing a blood transfusion bag, historical hepatitis C research papers, a family photograph and a folder stamped “Medical Records Missing,” with the headline “The Infection Was Already There.”
Campaign & Accountability

The Infection Was Already There: What Historical Hepatitis C Research Tells Us.

Historical hepatitis C research shows the virus was circulating long before routine screening was introduced. That matters for people infected through blood transfusions decades ago, particularly where medical records are missing, incomplete or destroyed. For families, the practical impact can be severe. A missing record may mean having to reconstruct events from old letters, partial hospital notes, family recollections or later diagnoses. That can delay recognition, complicate compensation claims and force relatives to prove events that happened decades earlier. This article looks at what the historical evidence tells us — and why absence of paperwork should not automatically be treated as absence of infection.

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Editorial graphic showing a long queue of people beneath question marks, with a phone displaying an IBCA update and signposts labelled “End of Life,” “Age 75+,” “No Interim Payment,” “Younger Claimants,” and “Linked Claims.” Headline reads: “When the Queue Stops Making Sense: Why Is IBCA’s Invitation Sequencing Still So Unclear?”
Campaign & Accountability

When the Queue Stops Making Sense: Why Is IBCA’s Invitation Sequencing Still So Unclear?

IBCA says it is now in a better position to tell people when their claims are expected to start. But for many affected families, the latest update still does not explain how invitations are actually being sequenced — or why younger people appear to be receiving invitations while some people in their 70s remain waiting. The Unheard Voice has already asked IBCA for clarification and is awaiting a response.

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A dramatic editorial graphic showing a September 1991 calendar, hepatitis C blood samples and a broken brick wall with light shining through. Large text reads: “1991 Was Never Supposed to Be a Brick Wall.”
Campaign & Accountability

1991 Was Never Supposed to Be a Brick Wall

September 1991 matters because hepatitis C blood screening began — but it is not an automatic compensation cutoff. People infected later can still qualify where NHS blood or blood products are judged the more likely cause.

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Same Death, Different Tariff” and the question “Why does the affected scheme divide bereaved families
Campaign & Accountability

Same Death, Different Tariff: Why Does the Affected Scheme Divide Bereaved Families?

Two people can lose the same loved one to the infected blood scandal and still receive very different affected compensation depending on their relationship, age and circumstances. This article examines those differences, the reasoning behind them, and asks whether a tariff system can truly reflect the impact of bereavement, caring and family harm without creating sharp divides between people affected by the same death.

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Campaign & Accountability

Why Is the Fight for Justice Still Continuing?

The Infected Blood Inquiry reported in 2024, the Government apologised, and a compensation scheme is now in place. But the process of delivering compensation, implementing recommendations, resolving anomalies and rebuilding trust is still ongoing. In 2025, the Inquiry itself published an additional report calling for greater speed, fairness, transparency and meaningful involvement of infected and affected people.

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Campaign & Accountability

IBCA Responds With Speed, Compassion and Clarity After Family Concerns Raised

After The Unheard Voice raised concerns about one family’s circumstances, IBCA responded quickly and provided wider clarification on worsening Hepatitis B and C conditions, supplementary awards, carers’ support and estate eligibility. We have also acknowledged the speed, empathy and compassion shown in the response. As a neutral and independent platform, we will report concerns when they arise — and positive action when it happens.

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Campaign & Accountability

A New Chair for IBCA: What the Infected Blood Community Needs Next

IBCA is recruiting a permanent Chair to replace Sir Robert Francis KC, who will leave in November. Applications close on 14 September. The successful candidate will lead IBCA’s Board during a critical period in which thousands of compensation claims remain unresolved, new regulations are being implemented and responsibility for support-scheme payments is preparing to transfer to IBCA. The appointment panel includes valuable experience from the Hepatitis C Trust and Carers Trust. The challenge for the next Chair will be to build upon that knowledge by listening to every part of the infected and affected community. This article examines the compassion, independence, transparency and courage victims and families should expect from the person chosen to lead IBCA next.

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Campaign & Accountability

The Changing of the Guard: Who Now Holds Responsibility for Infected Blood Compensation?

Senior figures connected to the infected blood response are moving on. Cat Little is leaving her Cabinet Office role, Nick Thomas-Symonds has left the relevant ministerial post, Sir Robert Francis will retire from IBCA in November, and the Infected Blood Inquiry has closed. Each change has an explanation—but together they raise an urgent question: who is ensuring continuity, transparency and accountability while thousands of victims and families are still waiting?

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Campaign & Accountability

Why Has Everything Gone So Quiet at IBCA?

For months the infected blood community has lived through constant updates, changing regulations, statistics, meetings and announcements. Now the noise has suddenly dropped. Claims are still moving — but with less frequent reporting and thousands still waiting, families are left wondering whether progress has slowed or whether something bigger is being prepared behind the scenes.

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Campaign & Accountability

The Community Is Doing Its Job — Are the Authorities Listening?

Across the infected blood community, people are gathering evidence, supporting families, meeting decision-makers and carrying painful truths into public view. The question is no longer whether the community is speaking — it is whether those with power are prepared to listen and act.

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Campaign & Accountability

HOT OFF THE PRESS: IBCA Cuts Reporting as Deceased Claim Figures Stall

IBCA has announced it will move from fortnightly to monthly reporting — just as the latest deceased claim figures show only 69 people have been paid. The decision is being justified as “community feedback”, but many are now asking a simple question: which community asked for less transparency?

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Campaign & Accountability

When a Campaigner Crosses the Divide

Jason Evans built trust through Factor 8. Now that he works inside IBCA, members of the infected blood community are asking what accountability looks like from the other side of the door.

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