What happened in the infected blood scandal? One of biggest health scandals in NHS history explained as ITV documentary airs

The British Blood Scandal: Poisoned At School tells the harrowing true stories of a group of students at The Lord Mayor Treloar School and Hospital and how this scandal changed their lives for ever.

Former students of the school, which was a boarding school for children with haemophilia at the time, will speak in the documentary about their experiences after the death of 72 children at the school. Students have regularly been described as being used as “guinea pigs” amid the scandal, with children infected with HIV and hepatitis C during experimental trials at the institution.

The final report into the scandal said that Treloar student were treated as “objects of research” by medical professionals, who favored the “advancement of research” rather than the children’s wellbeing.

Alongside the documentary, ITV has also commissioned a brand new drama about the infected blood scandal, which will air at a later date.

ITV will be hoping to emulate the cultural and social impact of Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, a drama based on the infected blood scandal. Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which aired in 2024, created a wider public conversation over the Post Office Horizon scandal, and lead to pressure being put on the government to exonerate the wrongly-convicted subpostmasters accused of fraud.

What happened in the Infected Blood Scandal?

From a period of time form the 1970s until the early 1990s, tens of thousands of people across the UK were unknowingly infected with hepatitis C and HIV after receiving contaminated blood and clotting factor products. These products had been imported from abroad with blood from high-risk donors such as prisoners and drug addicts.

Two main medical groups were affected by the infected products. These were haemophiliacs and some patients who required a blood transfusion after childbirth, surgery or other medical treatments between 1970 and 1991.

More than 30,000 people were infected during this period, with the death of at least 3,000 people recorded.

A public inquiry into the scandal published its findings in 2024. The inquiry found that victims of the scandal had been failed “not once, but repeatedly”.

The inquiry’s chairman Sir Brian Longstaff concluded that there had been a “catalogue of failures” that resulted in the avoidable deaths of patients. The inquiry found that patients were exposed to “unacceptable risks” that medical experts were aware of, with professionals aware of risks including the source of the blood products and the lack of testing for hepatitis C.

It also found that several bodies sought to hide the truth behind the scandal, and in some cases lied to patients about the risk they faced or even if they had been infected.

In an unprecedented move, Sir Brian Longstaff has called on government officials to give evidence at a special session of the inquiry, despite the conclusions already being published. This was due to “grave concerns” about the speed of compensation payments, which was a recommended outcome of the inquiry.

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised at the time of the inquiry’s conclusions being published that the government would pay “comprehensive compensation” to victims of the scandal.

In October 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that £11.8bn had been set aside to fund the compensation scheme. The government says it has paid more than £100 million in compensation so far to victims, with more than £1.2bn paid in interim payments and committed £500,000 towards advocacy charities.

Survivors of the scandal, as well as as many as 140,000 bereaved relatives whose lives have been impacted by the scandal, are entitled to compensation through the scheme.