Infected blood victim not hopeful over payout deadline

Dena Peacock said she wants to leave the compensation to her children

A victim of the infected blood scandal has said a compensation scheme needs to be set up quickly for those whose lives have been limited by it.

Dena Peacock, from Warrington, said she feared a final payments deadline could be "dragged out".

A scheme must be set up within three months of the Victims and Prisoners bill becoming law.

Ms Peacock said a general election must not get in the way of people "enjoying what life we've got left".

'Not hopeful'

Victims have been campaigning since more than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

A public inquiry into what has been called the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history will announce its findings in May.

Ms Peacock found out in 2017 that she had been given the contaminated blood decades ago, after feeling unwell for 35 years.

"They knew the blood was infected, and they gave it us, because they were saving money," the 60-year-old said.

Interim payouts have been made to the victims by the government, which has accepted a Labour amendment setting a three-month deadline for a final compensation scheme to be set up.

Ms Peacock said the payments were urgent as those infected were "dying every week".

"It needs to be done, stop punishing us even more, stop making us feel unworthy of a life," she said.

She said she wants the compensation for her children, who "suffered" when she was in bed, sick for days on end.

"I am not really hopeful at the minute, because we’ve been fed information and promises, and it just drags out and drags out."

The government has said it accepts the moral case for compensation but it would be "inappropriate" to respond before the inquiry's full report.