The Government is still taking too long to compensate victims of the infected blood scandal, MPs have said.
The criticism comes as applications for further interim payments for the families of victims opened on Thursday.
The scandal has been dubbed the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the infected blood inquiry, has previously called for “faster and fairer” compensation for victims.
At Cabinet Office questions on Thursday, the Government came under renewed criticism for the length of time it is taking for victims to receive compensation, including from the Labour benches.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds insisted he would “continue to drive progress as quickly as possible”.
More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s in the UK.
Some 3,000 people have died as a result, and survivors are living with lifelong health implications.
Patrick Hurley, Labour MP for Southport, said: “This process is still taking too long, so can I press the minister further to undertake work specifically to expedite the timescales expected for compensation to be paid?”
Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh Liz Jarvis added that many survivors of the scandal and bereaved families are “still waiting far too long for compensation”.
She said one of her constituents received their first payment in December, “but have been waiting for another ever since”, and now needs to “fill in yet another form”.
Responding to Mr Hurley, the Cabinet Office minister said: “He can rest assured that I will continue to drive progress as quickly as I possibly can.
“That’s why we’ve got to the stage now where over £1.8 billion of offers have been made. I will continue to drive that progress quickly going forward.”
He added: “I’m also pleased to announce that applications are opening today for further interim payments of £210,000 to the estates of infected people who have sadly passed away.”
In July, the Infected Blood Inquiry made a series of recommendations to improve compensation.
The Government responded that it was immediately accepting a number of the recommendations and would consult on others.
So far, the Government has paid more than £1.2 billion in interim compensation payments.
The estate interim payments are in addition to the bereaved partner and living infected interim payments.
In October 2022, the Government made interim payments of £100,000, and in June 2024 this was followed by interim payments of £210,000 to the infected only.
