Penrose Inquiry

The Penrose Inquiry was the public inquiry into hepatitis C and HIV infections from NHS Scotland treatment with blood and blood products such as factor VIII, often used by people with haemophilia. The event is often called the Tainted Blood Scandal or Contaminated Blood Scandal.[1]

It was not in the terms of reference of the inquiry to examine events in England,[2] a statutory public inquiry has never been held in England.[3] The Penrose Inquiry was set up by Scottish Government under the Inquiries Act 2005 and cost £12,123,754.[4] It was announced by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 April 2008. The Rt Hon Lord Penrose was the chairman of the inquiry.[5] Andrea Summers was the Solicitor for the Inquiry and following this Inquiry was appointed to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.[6]

The Inquiry took six years and the victims branded it a "total whitewash".[7]

Publication

Lord Penrose did not attend the launch of the final report which was held on 25 March 2015 in Edinburgh.[8] He was reported to have been too ill to attend.[9]

Criticism

The final report of the Penrose Inquiry was widely branded a whitewash after it made only one recommendation, that steps should be taken to offer blood tests to anyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion before 1991 and who has not already been tested for hepatitis C. The Inquiry did not apportion blame.[10][11][12][13][14] Andrea Summers, Solicitor to the Inquiry, attended a press conference to deliver the report and members of audience shouted 'whitewash' and 'cover up' as the audience walked out.[15]

Professor John Cash who was a former director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service said the executives responsible were able to avoid giving evidence. "Did Lord Penrose get to speak to the people with the real answers? No, he didn't," "He tried but through no fault of his own he couldn't get to the truth. He ran into serious problems because the Inquiries Act meant there was a whole area he could not address".[14]

Five deaths were examined as outlined in the inquiry's terms of reference, these were, Reverend David Black, Mrs Eileen O'Hara, Alexander Black Laing, Neil Mullen and Victor Tamburrini.[2] Out of these 5 cases, only 1 of the victims was a Haemophiliac. The 1 haemophilia case was a Hepatitis C infection that occurred in the 1960s, before Factor concentrates were in use, meaning that the case did not relate to the relevant period which is regarded at the mid-1970s–1980s.[16] None of these examined cases involved HIV infection.[17]

Aftermath

Following the publication of the Penrose Inquiry, David Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to offer a formal apology for the scandal.[18][19][20]

No damages were paid during or following the inquiry, indeed, compensation was not mentioned within the terms of reference of the Penrose Inquiry.[21] Damages have, however, been paid in Ireland.[22][23][24] On 17 August 2022, the Government announced that victims of the infected blood scandal across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will each receive an interim compensation payment of £100,000.[25]

See also

References
  1. Keating, Fiona (16 April 2016). "World Haemophilia Day 2016: Contaminated blood scandal one of the biggest NHS treatment disasters". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. "Terms of Reference". www.penroseinquiry.org.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  3. R (March) v Secretary of State for Health, 765 BMLR 116, 2 (EWHC (Admin) 2010) ("There has never been any judicial consideration of liability or fault and never any statutory public inquiry.").
  4. "The Penrose Inquiry" (PDF). UK Government. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. "Penrose Inquiry". www.penroseinquiry.org.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. "Who we are". www.childabuseinquiry.scot. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  7. "Borders victim: Penrose report is 'a total whitewash'". ITV. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  8. "Blood scandal victims condemn Penrose inquiry". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  9. "Chair of Penrose public inquiry seriously ill". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  10. "Penrose report: Blood scandal inquiry branded a 'whitewash'". The Independent. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  11. "Penrose Inquiry: £12m contaminated blood probe branded a whitewash". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  12. "Victims cry 'whitewash' over Penrose blood infection inquiry, Scotland - BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  13. "Victims Angry At Blood Inquiry 'Whitewash'". Sky News. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  14. Wheeler, Caroline (6 September 2015). "Six-year inquiry 'failed to find full awful truth about scandal of tainted blood'". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  15. "Contaminated blood: Penrose report published / Cameron apology". www.gettyimages.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  16. "A bloody mess". The Guardian. 17 December 2002. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  17. Tainted Blood (26 March 2015), The Penrose Inquiry / Chairman's Statement - 25th March 2015, retrieved 9 January 2017
  18. "Penrose inquiry: David Cameron apologises over infected blood". BBC News. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  19. Williams, Tryst (25 March 2015). "Prime Minister David Cameron apologises over contaminated blood scandal". walesonline. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  20. CampaignTB (31 March 2015), Prime Minister's Questions : Formal Apology - Wednesday 25th March 2015, retrieved 9 January 2017
  21. Jane Ellison, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (26 March 2015). "Penrose Inquiry". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 594. Commons. col. 1596–1597. It is worth noting that the terms of reference given by the Scottish Government to the Penrose inquiry do not make reference to compensation.
  22. "Irish Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal". www.hepccomptrib.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  23. "€2.9m for victim of blood product contamination". 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  24. Bannon, Ultan. "Hep C & HIV Compensation Tribunal - Malcomson Law Solicitors". www.mlaw.ie. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  25. "Infected Blood victims to receive £100,000 interim compensation payment". GOV.UK. Cabinet Office. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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