Government faces judicial review challenge over contaminated blood payments scheme

The Government is being taken to judicial review over alleged discrimination in its payment scheme for people living with HIV and the Hepatitis C virus.

The hearing is expected “in the coming months”, according to Leigh Day, the solicitors acting for Alex Smith, a 61-year old man from Oldham who was infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Infected by receiving contaminated blood through the NHS, Mr Smith is in the majority group among claimants to the scheme: HCV is a more common infection among claimants than HIV. 

However, campaigners are challenging the level of payments made by the discretionary scheme to the two different groups.

Leigh Day said in a statement that “those who contracted HCV…have been paid less than those who contracted HIV”.

This is despite the fact, the law firm claimed, “that the Government’s own medical advice is that the medical consequences of contracting HCV were at least as serious as contracting HIV, if not more serious”. 

The scheme - known as the ‘Infected blood payment scheme’ - was revised in July 2016.

Two months later, Leigh Day sent a letter before action to ask the Secretary of State for Health to clarify the scheme and, specifically, to confirm that there would be no inequality between those living with HCV and HIV.

In reply, the Department of Health denied that there was any inequality in the scheme and stated that it would not amend it further. That decision is the subject of the judicial review.

Rosa Curling, human rights solicitor at Leigh Day, said: “The fact that the High Court has granted permission for a substantive judicial review hearing demonstrates that the points we have raised on behalf of our client are important and should be heard by the court.”