Victims of the contaminated blood scandal have accused police of stalling a criminal investigation, describing the delay over a decision as a “living nightmare” for the families of those affected.
Police have yet to launch a criminal probe into the worst treatment disaster in NHS history – despite the devastating findings of a public inquiry into the scandal almost exactly two years ago.
The Infected Blood Inquiry found that the tragedy – which saw more than 30,000 people infected with diseases, including HIV and hepatitis C, after receiving NHS-supplied blood – was “largely avoidable”.
The final report in May 2024 described the scandal as a “calamity” caused by a “catalogue of failures” across successive governments, the NHS, and medical professionals. No individual has yet been held accountable for the scandal, which has led to the deaths of at least 3,000 people.
Police have now written to survivors of the scandal to apologise for a delay in determining “whether a criminal investigation would be possible”.
