Blood scandal victim 'angry' at cover-up

Guernsey man Ian Walden felt "downtrodden and forgotten"

A Guernseyman who contracted hepatitis C from infected blood is "angry" after a UK report into the scandal accused doctors, the NHS and successive governments of trying to cover up what happened, he says.

The five-year investigation concluded the scandal could have been "largely avoided" and that patients were exposed to "unacceptable risks".

Ian Walden, 61, said the report was "40 years in the making" and he had felt "downtrodden and forgotten" after learning of its conclusions.

He said: "It hurts even more to know they knew in the 1970s there was a problem."

Ian Walden missed a lot of his schooling because of his blood disorder

Mr Walden is one of the victims who submitted written testimony to the infected blood inquiry, which published its findings on Monday.

He said: "I was lucky that when I was treated for the hep C, I didn't have any of the the bad effects of it.

"But you still don't know what could come out of it. It's a ticking time bomb.

"It's been a long battle, very stressful. You try to forget about it."

The inquiry into the infected blood scandal identified a catalogue of failures by the NHS and successive British governments.

More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from 1970 to 1991 by contaminated products, and about 3,000 have since died.

Mr Walden, who said his medical records went missing, said he was also "very angry" to learn he was not alone.

He said: "I've tried to get hold of my personal records from when I was born in Bristol and my Oxford records, where I was being treated, and there are no records of me at either place now in existence."

Mr Walden said that, while compensation would be "a benefit", his main priority was to "enjoy what time I've got left with my grandchildren".

Speaking in the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister PM Rishi Sunak offered a "whole-hearted" apology to the victims of the scandal.