Survivors of Britain's contaminated blood scandal last night accused the government of a cover-up after doubts emerged about the reasons for the destruction of hundreds of critical documents. Earlier this year victims were told that paperwork had been accidentally destroyed by an inexperienced civil servant. However, letters seen by The Observer reveal that only senior officers, who would have known that the 600 sensitive files should have been stored for at least 25 years, would have been in a position to retain or destroy them.
The documents detailed meetings between the blood transfusion service, health boards, government officials and consultants during the Seventies and Eighties and contained critical information about what has become one of the worst disasters in the history of the NHS.
After several victims lodged a freedom of information request earlier this year, they was told they had been erroneously destroyed, some during the early Nineties and the remainder between July 1994 and March 1998. They were the only records relating to NHS policy which were 'inadvertently' destroyed during the Nineties, and contained information on when precisely the government became aware of the risks from imported blood and what measures were taken to warn patients.
In a further development, The Observer has learnt that the shredded documents were the same ones the Tory government had gone to extreme lengths to suppress in 1990. When a judge ruled that they must be released, ministers, in an apparent attempt to avoid handing them over, announced a spectacular U-turn, offering an immediate out-of-court settlement to around 1,200 victims, mainly haemophiliacs, who had contracted HIV from imported blood products.
It is the only time the government has sanctioned 'compensation' without negligence first being proved by a court. Victims were urged, some say coerced, into accepting the money. The cash accepted ranged from £21,000 to £80,000. This compares with a recent case in which a man infected with a variant HIV virus from contaminated blood during surgery was awarded £750,000 after a seven-year court battle with the National Blood Service.
Last week, an Observer investigation found that many of the 400 still alive are living in poverty. Campaigners said the latest revelations added weight to their calls for additional compensation as well as an independent inquiry. 'In other countries they have investigated the disaster properly,' said Lord Morris of Manchester, the former Labour MP who is president of the Haemophilia Society. 'In Canada there has been legal action. In Ireland, victims have been adequately compensated and in France people have been sentenced to imprisonment for their part in the disaster. But here in the UK, the government treats the victims with remarkable arrogance and disregard.'
Until now, officials have always said an inexperienced staff member was probably responsible for the destruction of the files. However, in a letter dated February this year, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt stated that under the Public Records Act 1958 all departments were required to identify records requiring long-term retention. Such rulings, she said, would be made by a senior member of staff.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said that the victims' request for additional financial assistance was still being considered.
· Some of the contaminated blood scandal survivors have been telling their stories on our blog. You can read the blog and post comments here.
