Proposed government compensation for former pupils of a Hampshire college who were subjected to unethical medical research and infected with deadly viruses has been condemned as "ridiculous" and "wholly inadequate".
‘Objects for research’: The Treloar’s College scandal
Between the 1970s and early 1990s, more than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis after being given contaminated blood and blood products. This has been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
A particularly egregious element of this national scandal involved boys with haemophilia at Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College in Hampshire. The Infected Blood Public Inquiry’s report, published in May 2024, found that these children were treated as "objects for research" by NHS clinicians.
The clinicians, who knew the dangers, experimented on the pupils without their or their parents' knowledge, administering "multiple, riskier" treatments. Of the 122 children with haemophilia who attended the college in the 1970s and early 1980s, more than 80 are now dead.
‘Way off the mark’: Victims’ outrage at compensation offer
The government has proposed a one-off £15,000 payment for these victims of unethical research, on top of ongoing support. A separate £10,000 award is available for others in similar, less notorious cases. Changes to this payment are currently under public consultation until 22 January.
Gary Webster, a former pupil infected with both HIV and hepatitis C, told Sky News the sum was "way off the mark." He asked: "How can you offer £25,000 to someone who's been experimented and researched on, and most of the time killed? It's just ridiculous. It has to be a lot more than what they are offering."
Mr Webster described how he and other boys, aged eight to ten, were injected daily by doctors they trusted. "We just thought the doctors, who were our friends, who used to come and play sports with us in the evening, we thought they were doing good for us," he said. "Our parents had no knowledge of anything."
Charity and community demand justice
The Hepatitis C Trust has written to Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds expressing "profound concerns" about the proposed sums. In a letter, the charity stated the offers are "wholly inadequate" and "risk sending a dangerous message about the value of human life."
The letter emphasised that the contamination was not an accident but a "conscious decision by medical professionals" to give children products known to be contaminated. Signatories, including the charity and other infected blood community members, called for the award to be "fully and transparently reviewed."
The letter also raised alarm over delays to a potential criminal investigation, noting the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) review instigated after the inquiry report remains "ongoing" with no timeline, a delay which "compounds the injustice."
A government spokesperson said it remained committed to ensuring justice is reflected in compensation and that an uplift was being made available to recognise unethical research. They encouraged responses to the ongoing consultation.
Treloar’s College, when approached, reiterated a call for compensation plans to be implemented "without further delay," expressing deep sadness for the suffering of its former pupils.
