Statement from Dame Jo Williams (Chair) and Louise Shepherd (CEO) of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
“We want to offer our sincere and heartfelt apologies to all of the children, young people and families who were treated with infected blood products at Alder Hey in the 1970s and 1980s, and who suffered the most awful consequences. It has been devastating to hear of the unnecessary suffering and distress experienced by those families who put their faith in us and the NHS at the time.
“Today’s report lays bare the shocking failings across the NHS during that time and at our hospital. We co-operated openly with the Inquiry team throughout and fully support its findings. We will carefully consider any recommendations that apply to us. Both our organisation and the wider NHS are very different now, but we know there are always things we can learn and ways in which we can improve. We hope that the Inquiry helps those who have been so tragically, and wrongly, affected by this scandal to find the answers they need and truly deserve.”
Further information
Since 1991, all blood donated in the UK is screened and is now distributed to NHS hospitals by NHS Blood and Transplant, which was established in 2005 to provide a national blood and transplantation service to the NHS. Modern safety standards are extremely rigorous, and NHS Blood and Transplant’s services follow strict guidelines and testing to protect both donors and patients and are subject to regular inspections by independent regulators.
People may be concerned about their own health following recent media coverage of the Infected Blood Inquiry, so the NHS has set up a new online resource for patients and the public to find help and support – https://nhs.uk/infected-blood-support.
Given the time that has elapsed since the last use of infected blood products, most of those who were directly affected have been identified and started appropriate treatment. However, there may be a small number of patients where this is not the case, and particularly where they are living with asymptomatic hepatitis C.
If you are concerned about a possible hepatitis C infection, you can book a home NHS test online. The tests are free and confidential. To receive a self-testing kit which can be quickly dispatched to your home visit hepctest.nhs.uk.
Hepatitis B is also linked to infected blood, this usually clears up on its own without treatment but could develop into chronic hepatitis B. Patients can find out more information here – hepatitis B information.
HIV testing is also provided to anyone free of charge on the NHS. Home testing and home sampling kits are also available. You can find out more about HIV testing and the HIV testing services search tool on the NHS website.
Patients who want more details about the safety of blood from donations in England can find more information here: https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-process/further-information/your-safety/.