The archive
The human stories behind the scandal — families, carers, bereaved relatives and people living with its consequences. These pieces focus on what happened to people, not just what appears in official documents.
Latest in People & Lived Experience
With four of five volumes of a mother’s hospital notes missing, her family is challenging IBCA’s rejection of her claim. They want to know how the surviving evidence was weighed—and why uncertainty over her HIV progression appears to have been decisive.
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After losing husbands and partners to illnesses linked to infected blood, many widows were left carrying grief, caring responsibilities, financial pressure and family life with little recognition of what had happened to them.
Read storyThey were children, but illness inside the family changed everything. Some cared for sick parents. Others looked after younger brothers and sisters. Many never saw themselves as carers at all — they were simply doing what had to be done. This article looks at the hidden young carers of the infected blood scandal, the responsibilities they carried, and the impact that often followed them long into adulthood.
Read storyThe scandal harmed far more than the people who were directly infected. Alongside those who contracted HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C through contaminated NHS blood, blood products or tissue, partners, parents, children, siblings and unpaid carers also lived with the consequences. The Infected Blood Inquiry uses the terms “infected” and “affected” to reflect that wider human impact.
Read storyA simple question put to members of an infected blood support community prompted deeply personal responses about grief, waiting, estate claims and retraumatisation. Families described the fear that loved ones can become reduced to case numbers inside a complex compensation process. Their answers are not a formal survey, but they offer a powerful snapshot of what some people experiencing the scheme want those running it to understand.
Read storyA father who spent decades undergoing dialysis, operations, blood transfusions and two failed kidney transplants was later diagnosed with hepatitis C acquired through NHS treatment. His family know the infection came through his medical care — but years later, missing records mean they may never know which specific procedure caused it.
Read storyThe infected blood compensation scheme gives some bereaved parents a 50% uplift. Others do not receive it because their child had reached 18. The Unheard Voice asks a simple question: why?
Read storyHIV Was Recognised. But What Happened When It Became AIDS? Submitted by Sarah, whose father was infected through treatment for haemophilia.
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Susan Burke and her family say she was infected following a blood transfusion in 1981, when she was 30. Now approaching 75 and living with liver, kidney and heart failure, Susan needs round-the-clock care from her son Ian—yet the family says it has been told there is no fast-track route and they must wait.
Read storyNo amount of compensation is worth somebody losing their life while waiting for justice. Yet some members of the infected blood community are now describing distress so severe that they have spoken about ending their lives.
Read storyYears after a father died, his family discovered a devastating fact hidden in his medical records: his HIV had progressed to AIDS.
Read storyTwo parents were affected by the same infected blood tragedy. Their suffering did not differ—but the compensation scheme treats their estates differently because one died before 21 May 2024.
Read storyA payment to an estate is not the same as recognising the people who lived through the loss.
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