Ministers agree to inquiry into blood contamination

THE Scottish Executive has agreed to hold a public inquiry into how patients were given blood product contaminated with fatal viruses and kept in the dark about their illnesses.

The SNP administration said a public inquiry was "the best way forward" to get to the bottom of how Scottish patients became infected with hepatitis and HIV.

An independent inquiry is being held in England by Lord Archer of Sandwell, a former solicitor-general, but it has no power to subpoena witnesses and its findings will not be binding on ministers or the NHS.

Last night, a spokesman for the Holyrood government confirmed to The Scotsman that it would back a public inquiry with legal status, which would look at practices of doctors in Scotland. The decision comes after 25 years of campaigning by victims.

A spokesman said: "The Scottish government believes in a more accountable health service and a public inquiry in Scotland to find out why people were infected with hepatitis through NHS treatment is the best way forward. Clearly, we will wish to assess the findings of the Archer inquiry before deciding exactly when and how to proceed."

One of the most tireless campaigners for an inquiry has been Robert Mackie, 57, who with his wife Alice has painstakingly gathered evidence about what doctors knew of the risks of HIV and hepatitis for haemophilia patients. The Executive's decision comes after Mr Mackie's evidence to an independent inquiry in London was highlighted in yesterday's Scotsman.

Thousands of people with haemophilia and many others who had one-off blood transfusions were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from batches of contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr Mackie was a haemophilia patient at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) when he contracted HIV in 1984 from an infected batch of the Factor VIII treatment. He told the Archer inquiry that the director of the haemophilia centre at the ERI, Dr Robert Ludlam, did not tell him about his condition or that he had been used for research for three years.

Successive calls for an inquiry in Scotland since the Holyrood parliament opened in 1999 were dismissed by previous administrations.

Mr Mackie said:

"This is very good news. It's some time overdue. The evidence that's available now about what doctors and ministers knew is not in question. We hope the remit of the inquiry will fully answer our questions and ensure this never happens again."

Philip Dolan, chairman of the Scottish Haemophilia Forum, said what campaigners wanted was an explanation rather than scalps of doctors or ministers.

"We need to try and get answers to why this happened and try and get some sort of closure to avoid this happening in the future," he said. "Too many people I knew died before they should have."

He welcomed the Executive's decision, however: "At least the new Executive has given recognition to the plight of these people who have been infected."

Bruce Norval, of Fortrose, near Inverness, who contracted hepatitis C when being treated for haemophilia, said it made sense for the Executive to wait for the Archer inquiry. He continued: "I want to see haematologists have the courage to stand up and answer the questions that we have been asking them for 25 years."

In April last year, the Scottish Parliament's health committee voted in favour of a public inquiry. But in June, Andy Kerr, then health minister, dismissed the call. He continued to refuse the call for an inquiry in February this year after Lord Archer's inquiry was announced, saying there would be "no further practical lessons" to be learned from an inquiry set up by the government.

Attempts to bring criminal charges were dismissed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 2004.

Scotland's high incidence of hepatitis C means the risks historically have been higher. For three decades up to the 1980s, blood donations were taken from Scottish prisoners, regarded as a high-risk group. And it took two years longer for Scotland to apply heat treatment to blood products than in the rest of the UK.

Families are also awaiting the outcome of a court case into whether the Lord Advocate and health minister acted lawfully in dismissing previous calls for a public inquiry.

The timescale of the Scottish inquiry is not known, but its remit will depend partly on the findings of the Archer inquiry, which will last another three months.

Frank Maguire, a solicitor advocate and senior partner at Thompsons Solicitors, who represents some of the victims and their relatives spearheading the court action, said: "The victims and their families will be so happy. We have had at least 660 deaths in the NHS as a result of this. It begs the question: why did ministers block all earlier attempts for an inquiry?"