SIBF meet Sir Brian Langstaff and his Inquiry Team and submit Joint Response
26th April 2018Lives matter more than numbers … but numbers are important
28th May 2018Following a piece on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme on Monday 30th April, the Inquiry Chair, the Infected Blood Inquiry contacted SIBF, Haemophilia Scotland and others to provide a balanced overview in an attempt to counter any perceived bias within the infected and affected community in the UK – they made it clear the inquiry will cover all those infected by contaminated blood from transfusions as well as blood products. They also stated they wanted to:
- hold further meetings outside of London,
- to get views on how people would like to engage with the Inquiry,
- especially those who have not had the opportunity to meet the Inquiry team, and
- highlighted their new Inquiry office premises near St Paul’s Cathedral in London;
- finally they thanked those who had engaged with the Terms of Reference consultation.
In Scotland the Scottish Infected Blood Forum represents infected and affected people whatever the source of contamination.
SIBF and Haemophilia Scotland have also worked closely and positively together since the Penrose Inquiry to strive to reinforce a collective and joint approach to represent the whole community of infected and affected people whether people were infected from contaminated blood transfusions or blood factor products; and sometimes potentially both.
We are working together to consider the best ways the Inquiry Team can engage further in Scotland and will provide an update when we have further news on this.
The BBC programme noted above is available for viewing here until the end of May 2018 through the BBC’s iPlayer platform.
The update from the Inquiry team is shown in full below:
The consultation on the terms of reference closed last Thursday and the team has started work on analysing the responses we have received online, by letter, in emails, by phone and at meetings. On Tuesday Sir Brian Langstaff started work as full time chair of the Inquiry and is very grateful for your contributions to the terms of reference, including at the meetings with him during the consultation period.
I’m getting in touch today because I heard that following this Monday’s Victoria Derbyshire programme there had been some concern about how the full range of people affected by the infected blood scandal have been described. As Sir Brian made clear in his meetings with different campaign groups, the Inquiry will be investigating what happened to all those people who were infected, whether they were haemophiliacs or not, and also considering the impact on families.
The inquiry team is now starting to consider how we can best engage with the wide range of people affected as we go through the Inquiry process. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has invited the team to meet affected people who have been in contact with him. This will be an opportunity for them to hear first hand how the Inquiry will work and to give their views about how they would like to engage with the Inquiry.
We would like to hold some more meetings outside London to get views on how people would like to engage with the Inquiry, including from people who have not yet had the opportunity to meet the team, so please let me know if you would like to suggest a particular location, and/or a group of people to meet. And of course, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any other questions related to the Inquiry, and I hope you will share this note with your wider range of contacts.
Finally, you might like to know that we have now moved into the Inquiry office premises which are close to St Paul’s Cathedral (full details below).
Address: Fleetbank House, 1st Floor, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8AE
2 Comments
What a difference in approach between the Penrose Inquiry and the Langstaff Inquiry. It’s probably too early to be overly confident that this time the Inquiry will be done right, but at least there appears to be a genuine attempt to invlove the victims.
This may be true, but Robison’s deliberations on ‘just and fair compensation levels’ are still for some reason governed by her idea of ‘what is affordable’ for the Scottish Exchequer.
If by my carelessness, inattention and neglect, I kill or injure someone in a road accident, then the damages I owe are not determined by my notions about what I think I should pay, either to the victim or to the surviving family members, in recompense..