The daughter of a Sedbergh man who died after he was infected with contaminated blood has spoken out about the government's £10 billion+ compensation package for victims.

Sarah Dorricott's father Mike Dorricott was among those affected after patients were treated with blood products imported from America  - some taken from high-risk donors such as drug addicts and prisoners.

READ MORE: Infected blood compensation thanks to Sedbergh man, says Jeremy Hunt

In 2014, Mr Dorricott met with the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt after moving to his Surrey constituency.

He shared his anger at the fact that infected patients and their families had not yet received a full and fair settlement.

Mr Hunt made a promise to Mr Dorricott that he would work to deliver this.

Just a few months after the meeting, Mr Dorricott died aged just 47.

Upon the announcement of the Government's £10 billion+ compensation package, Mr Hunt paid tribute to Mr Dorricott.

Ms Dorricott has stressed that although she was very grateful to Mr Hunt, she and other families feel 'frightened' by the 'convoluted' information given.

She said: "After the final Infected Blood Inquiry report, the victims, some of whom have fought for decades, felt validated after years of cover-ups and being gaslit.

"We were elated at the government’s recognition that this was a cover up and Sir Brian Langstaff confirming 'this disaster, was not an accident' - but now I wonder how much longer the battle will go on.

"What we've been given is so difficult to read.

"Illustrative charts are also incomplete and the scheme contradicts itself - even our lawyers have struggled to decipher it.

"I haven’t seen a penny of compensation yet and the media has been fixated on the highest £2m figures but hasn't accounted for how low the lowest awards will be.

"The lowest paid figures that we've seen are not good enough.

 

"The government made clear years ago ex gratis support payments were not to be classed as compensation.

"Now they are lumping together the support payments and compensation and then offering top-ups if the amount doesn't equal the amount they receive normally from the support schemes - this is giving with one hand and taking with the other.

"It feels like the government has threatened to stop the support payments infected victims and bereaved widows receive and in place of a pension that many of them never had the chance to build.

"Many living infected struggled to hold down a career long enough to build up a pension and bereaved widows/partners lost careers through stigma or being the primary carer to their infected partner."

Ms Dorricott feels she needs re-assurance that the IBCA’s the (Infected Blood Compensation Authority) Interim Chair Sir Robert Francis will be free to make any adjustments without obstruction.

Also that the support payments to the infected living and grieving windows/ partners will be protected and will not be changed with the exception of factors like inflation.

Sir Robert Francis has committed to reaching out to the community in the next month as part of a statement of intent to hear what they have to say about the scheme before its terms are set out in regulations.

He insists a list of questions will be published and that victims and families can raise any matter they wish. He will then convey these to the Government.

The government's Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Summary (IBSS) has assured that the scheme will not have any immediate impact on the support payments received through the IBSS or on its eligibility scheme.

It also assured that no-one will receive less compensation through the scheme than the payments they would have otherwise been entitled to through existing schemes.