Students at school where 75 died from infected blood say they felt like ‘guinea pigs’
Students who attended a school where 75 pupils died from being given infected blood treatments claim present day staff ‘deny responsibility’.
The Lord Mayor Treloar College in Hampshire was the only school in the country with an NHS haemophilia centre on site.
At least 89 were infected with HIV, hepatitis C or both through contaminated drugs out of 119 with haemophilia in the 1970s and 1980s.
People who attended the school have spoken out and said they felt like ‘guinea pigs’ while in attendance, The Times reports.
Documents show the government were aware trials were taking place, while students said their families were not informed about the risks.
More than 1,300 people were infected with HIV through contaminated haemophilia treatments and blood transfusions between 1970 and 1991.
Around 30,000 people were infected with hepatitis C and more than 3,000 died in ‘the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS’.
The school, now called Treloar School and College, released a statement in response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
It said: ‘The stories of our former students who were infected are especially heart-wrenching to hear.
‘Treloar’s staff, students and their families together placed their trust in the treatment and advice given out by the NHS clinic and the doctors and medical professionals who ran it in the 1970s and 80s.
‘It has been shocking to discover, through the ongoing public inquiry, that some of our students may have received treatment there which was unsafe or experimental, and that the NHS did not always obtain sufficient consent.’
Four survivors Gary Webster, Steve Nicholls, Ade Goodyear and Richard Warwick issued a joint statement in response which says: ‘We take issue with the idea that effectively they too were a victim. Their apparent disregard of facts and supporting documents leaves us feeling dismissed and outraged. At the very least the response of the school is disingenuous.
‘For the school to continue to deny any responsibility, putting the blame wholly with the NHS, is not only disrespectful to the 75 dead former pupils but is both preposterous and insulting. Treloar’s failed in its duty of care towards us.’
All four survivors are calling upon the school to withdraw its statement.
They have brought a High Court claim against the school which is pending until the final report from the inquiry which will be released next month.
A statement from Treloar’s said: ‘We await the publication of the infected blood inquiry, which we hope will provide our former pupils with the answers they have been waiting for.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.