Author: Hugh Pym

Compensation for infected blood victims needs to be delivered faster, campaigners have said on the first anniversary of a public inquiry report into what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.”We are dying at pace, the government needs to be working at pace, not just talking about it,” one campaigner said on Tuesday as a letter calling for action was handed in to the prime minister.Diana Johnson, a minister who for years as a Labour MP supported victims of the scandal, said it was “disappointing” to hear how slow process had been.But Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds said the government was “committed to delivering compensation as swiftly as possible”.More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV or hepatitis C or both after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. Around 3,000 people have died.In his final report released one year ago, inquiry chair Sir Brian Langstaff said the scandal had been largely avoidable and involved systemic failings.Campaigners had expected rapid compensation, but so far only 100 people have received payouts. They gathered at Westminster on Tuesday to hand in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, stating their concern at the lack of progress. “Twelve months on from the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s devastating report, there remains deep concern from the contaminated blood community that politics is continuing to fail them,” the letter said.”As the Infected Blood Inquiry heard when it reconvened hearings on 7 May 2025, the community’s voice was absent when the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme was drawn up. The resulting scheme contains fundamental flaws, which could and would have been foreseen.”Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Diana Johnson MP, who is now a Home Office Minister, told BBC News that she appreciated the concerns of campaigners and sympathised with their argument.”It’s disappointing to hear just how slow the process is though, and I fully appreciate the concerns that so many people who are gathered today are making about wanting to get those payments out to people,” she said.”We know on average someone dies every couple of weeks, so this has to be paid. But the money is there.”When asked whether she could use her position as minister to make their case she said she was speaking to the BBC as a constituency MP.Jacqueline Wrixton, who was infected with hepatitis C as the result of a blood transfusion, said: “It’s been a year since the euphoria of the recommendations, and yet, as an infected person… the statistics that roughly two a week are dying, we’ve still not got payment.”We are dying at pace, the government needs to be working at pace, not just talking about it. We need to see the actions.”Cabinet Office minister Thomas–Symonds said: “The victims of this scandal have suffered unspeakably.”After decades of delay, it has fallen to this government to act. We are acting on the inquiry’s 12 recommendations, so that this never happens again, and to get justice for victims.”While no amount of compensation will make up for the suffering people have endured, we are committed to delivering compensation as swiftly as possible.”

13 May 2025ShareSaveShareSaveGetty ImagesA disproportionate number of children referred to NHS excess weight clinics in England are from the most deprived areas, and a significant number are neurodivergent or have other health conditions, a study has found.Some have a body mass index (BMI) over 50, with 40 deemed to be severely obese.Nearly 4,800 under-18s have been referred to the clinics since they were set up in 2021, according to research carried out by Leeds Beckett, Sheffield Hallam, Leeds and Bristol universities and presented at the European Congress on Obesity.The clinics provide mental health support and care for other underlying conditions, as well as dietary advice. Specialist excess weight clinics treat severely obese children in England aged 2-17, who are flagged as needing help by their GP or another doctor.The clinics are run by multi-disciplinary teams including paediatricians, psychologists and dieticians. The new research, which looked at 32 of the clinics, found that over 40% of the children attending them lived in the most deprived neighbourhoods.Based on data from more than 3,000 child patients, many had other health conditions:24% had autism23% a learning disability30% had liver diseasea significant proportion had another health complicationProfessor Simon Kenny, national clinical director at NHS England, said he was “shocked” by the challenges that the young people faced when he met them and their families.”I became aware of the fact that this an invisible problem because they so rarely get out of the house. “That means they are not attending school, they are not interacting with their peer group,” Prof Kenny said.He explained that living with excess weight can cause problems affecting every organ system. Poor school attendance can also affect future employment and life opportunities.”The NHS won’t just sit by and let children and young people become ill adults,” he said.Some of the specialist clinics are using digital technology for weight loss support. For example, children can use ‘smart scales’ at home which do not show their weight. The data is connected to a mobile app to show the trend without the numbers. Only clinicians are able to see the data and provide feedback to the family.Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, while welcoming the use of technology, said: “They should have been doing this years ago.”He said there hadn’t been enough emphasis on routine weighing and measuring.”This should be done at regular intervals and due note taken of the trend. There are graphs from child health records which are not used. Children arrive at school in an unfit condition and that’s often too late,” Mr Fry added.In another paper presented to the European Congress on Obesity, presented by Dr Annika Janson from Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, researchers said giving weight loss jabs to children could be effective. She said that trials of the drugs in children aged 12 and over had shown a loss of 5-16% of body weight after a year, but added it was “difficult to isolate the effect of adding GLP-1 drugs to the plethora of treatments that are already available”. The medicines regulator NICE has not approved weight loss drugs for routine use by children in England, although they can be provided by specialists if there is urgent clinical need.What does BMI mean?Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as a simple way of finding out whether a person is a healthy weight for their height.For adults:a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be a healthy weighta BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered to be overweighta BMI over 30 is considered to be obeseBut it’s not accurate for everyone because it can’t tell the difference between fat and muscle, and doesn’t take into account ethnic background.Your waist circumference may be a better guide.