Is the NHS to blame for the UK’s slow response to the infected blood scandal?

The majority of countries that did a better job of curtailing the effects of the infected blood scandal have healthcare systems based on insurance. Mary Dejevsky argues the inquiry’s findings show the creaking NHS should follow suit

Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry Brian Langstaff with victims and campaigners outside Central Hall in Westminster, London (PA Wire)

In all the soul-searching and breast-beating that has followed the publication of Brian Langstaff’s exemplary report, one aspect of the infected blood scandal has received relatively little consideration.

Practically every other country where haemophiliacs and hospital patients received contaminated plasma in the 1970s and 1980s got to grips with the problem sooner and more comprehensively than did the UK.

Among them are the United States, several continental European countries, and Ireland, all of which stopped using contaminated blood products before the UK did. They started and completed their inquiries long before the UK and in some countries – notably Canada and France – a few heads actually rolled, including politicians, doctors, and pharmaceutical company representatives.