THE GREAT BLOOD SCANDAL

Thousands lost their lives in one of the biggest NHS disasters, which could have been avoided. Woman's Own investigates...

- MISHAAL KHAN, EMMA CREAMER

Imagine needing a blood transfusion after giving birth. The fear, worry and panic. Of course, we would trust that the treatment we were receiving in hospital was helping. We put our faith in the experts, never imagining that the treatment we receive could actually be doing us more harm than good.

But that was the reality for thousands of patients between 1970 and 1991. More than 30,000 people being treated by the NHS were infected with HIV, hepatitis C or both, as they were given contaminated blood or blood products. Those affected included people being treated for haemophilia or needing a transfusion after complications in childbirth. Around 3,000 people have died, and of those infected with HIV, 380 were children.

It wasn’t until 2017 that the Infected Blood Inquiry was announced, and the final report was published in May this year. But why has it taken so long for victims to get answers, and why did the scandal happen in the first place?

'Our lives changed forever'

Denise Turton, 63, lives in Nailsea with her husband, Colin, 66. They have three grown-up children, Kerrie, 41, Robyn, 33, and Jack, 31.

I’d always looked forward to being a mum, and when my son Lee was born in May 1981, I was thrilled. But at six months, he was diagnosed with haemophilia A, a genetic condition affecting the blood’s ability to clot.

My husband Colin and I put everything we had into doing what was best for Lee. Whenever he had an episode – internal bleeding in one of his joints, which left him crying in pain – Lee was administered with an intravenous injection, a treatment called cryoprecipitate – frozen plasma made from the blood of a donor – to control the bleeding.