Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Public Health and Administration

This report has been prepared by the convenors of a group of experts in public health and administration appointed by Sir Brian Langstaff in 2021 on behalf of the Infected Blood Inquiry. The Report draws upon contributions made by and advice received from the members of the Group who are listed in the Authors section of this report. In the letter of instruction from the Inquiry we were asked to respond to a series of specific questions and the Report is organised around the responses to each question numbered as per the letter of instruction. With regard to terminology, we have used the term patient to indicate a person receiving healthcare of any kind, while conscious that other terms such as client or service-user may be more appropriate in some contexts. In some cases, we have cross-referenced between questions to indicate the relevance of material covered in more detail elsewhere in the report. We have been invited to offer our opinion on the strength and weaknesses of current systems and practices, how these have developed and how they might be improved. We are conscious that there is no simple answer to the questions we were asked and that there are many different, strongly held views. We have sought to refer to these in the Report but, at the same time, to provide some consensus where that is possible. It is, of course, for the Inquiry to draw conclusions and make recommendations but we hope that this Report assists in that difficult process.