VICTIMS of the NHS contaminated blood scandal will be compensated by the UK Government after four decades.

A framework is being drawn up by ministers to award billions of pounds to victims of what many consider to be the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.

The Government is expected to set up an independent review to examine proposals for a compensation scheme.

Chairman of the Haemophilia Society, Clive Smith, told The Times: “Setting up a compensation framework is the closest any UK government has ever come to admitting liability for the contaminated blood scandal, and the significance of this moment for our community cannot be overstated.

“We hope this is the start of a process which will finally acknowledge the unimaginable pain, suffering and loss of thousands of families whose lives have been torn apart by this appalling NHS treatment disaster.”

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As many as 30,000 people from across the UK, including approximately 3000 in Scotland, were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood products through the NHS.

It is predicted that victims are dying at the rate of one every four days from the scandal, which has already claimed 3000 lives. 

Successive governments have ignored victims and refused to accept culpability, despite documents which indicate that health officials knew of the dangers.

The review will consider compensation schemes implemented in other countries, including Ireland where 5000 victims collectively received in excess of £1 billion.

It will conclude before the end of the Infected Blood Inquiry this autumn, to ensure that a compensation scheme can be introduced immediately to implement any recommendations made by the inquiry.

In December, the inquiry heard that some haemophiliac patients weren't told they were HIV positive until more than two years after receiving infected blood products.

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Sixteen people were found to have the virus in October 1984 after Professor Christopher Ludlam, consultant haematologist and reference centre director at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh from 1980 to 2011, sent samples from patients to be checked – without telling them.

However, it was not until December that year before a meeting was called to advise patients that some of them might have been infected with HIV.

It was then left to the victim to ask if they had tested positive or not.

Clair Walton, 59, contracted HIV from her husband Bryan, who died aged 34, after he received contaminated blood through the NHS.

Walton told The Times: “Nothing can ever make up for the impact this has had on our lives.”

“But finally getting to the truth and getting an acknowledgement about what has been done to us would give us some kind of closure,” she added.

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John Cornes, 63, contracted hepatitis C and cirrhosis amidst the contamination crisis, and was forced to give up his job two years ago due to deteriorating health.

He has lost four brothers, all of whom received contaminated blood, and fears he could be next.

Cornes told The Times: “It will never make up for what has been done to us.”

“But it would be one less thing to worry about and give the family some kind of security when I am gone. It would at least be something I could leave to the children,” he added.

Survivors and their families will also now receive the same level of financial support across the UK.

The current levels of financial support differ across the four nations, depending on the virus contracted; the severity of its impact; the country the victim was infected in; and in some cases the victims income.