More victims of the infected blood scandal will qualify for compensation while others will get higher awards under changes to the scheme.

The new rules mean estates of affected people who have already died will be able to claim payments.

As well as this, around 1,000 people who are already eligible will be able to claim a higher amount, including chronic Hepatitis C individuals.

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The reforms are being introduced following 16 recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry, which published an additional report earlier this month.

Confirming the changes, minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds said the government has “concentrated on removing barriers to quicker compensation”.

He added: “Our focus as we move forward must be working together to not only deliver justice to all those impacted, but also to restore trust in the state to people who have been let down too many times.”

Between the 1970s and early 1990s, more than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C while receiving NHS care.

Some 3,000 people have died after they were given contaminated blood and blood products, while survivors live with lifelong implications.

In last October’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed £11.8bn to compensate victims of the infected blood scandal, with the scheme opening at the end of last year.

The changes will ensure that those who endured treatments with adverse side effects, such as interferon, will receive higher compensation to what is currently provided.

Higher compensation will also be available for the impacts currently recognised by the Infected Blood Support Scheme ‘Special Category Mechanism’ (SCM), which is provided to chronic Hepatitis C individuals who have experienced a significant impact on their ability to carry out daily duties.

The government said the changes mean that over a thousand people will receive a higher amount than they would have under the existing scheme.

Scheme widened to estates of deceased affected people

The scheme will also be widened to some people who don’t currently qualify.

Under the current mechanism, if someone who was infected dies before receiving full compensation, then any final award can be passed on to their relatives through their estate.

However while compensation is also available to family members affected by the scandal – a partner, sibling or parent of someone who was infected, for example, this claim dies with them if they pass away.

The changes announced today mean that if the affected person has died after May 21st 2024, or dies in future before receiving compensation, their estate will be able to make a claim.

Memorial plans announced

The government also announced that Clive Smith, president of the Haemophilia Society, will be the chair of the new Infected Blood Memorial Committee.

The project will include plans for a UK memorial and support memorials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In line with the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendation, the committee will also develop plans for commemorative events and is planning to hold the first by the end of 2025.

Mr Smith said the memorial is “long overdue”.

He added: “It is a great privilege to be asked to lead this important work on behalf of the community.

“I am conscious that we are already behind in relation to implementing the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendation that community events be held on a six-month basis post the Inquiry reporting. We intend to correct that by the end of this year.

“I look forward to working with the whole community across the UK on building an appropriate memorial to those we have lost and to act as a lasting memorial to the nation of what can happen when patient safety is not prioritised.”

An aid worker in the central Gaza Strip has told Sky News the food situation in the enclave is “absolutely desperate” and “the worst it’s ever been”.

Her comments to Sky’s chief presenter Mark Austin come amid fresh international outcry over Israel’s restrictions on aid, as the UK has joined together with 24 other countries to say: “The war in Gaza must end now.”

Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save The Children, is in Deir al Balah, a city in central Gaza where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge during repeated waves of mass displacement.

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She said: “One of my colleagues said to me yesterday, ‘We are all walking together towards death’. And this is the situation now for people in Gaza.

“There is no food for their children, it’s absolutely desperate here.”

“The markets are empty,” she said. “People may even have cash in their pockets yet they cannot buy bread [or] vegetables.

“My team have said to me, ‘There’s nothing in my house to feed my children, my children are crying all day, every day.”

Israel launched a ground assault on Deir al Balah on Monday morning, another charity said earlier.

Ms Cummings’s comments came as the UK and 24 other nations issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.

The statement criticised aid distribution in Gaza, which is being managed by a US and Israel-backed organisation, Gaza Health Foundation.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” it said.

The 25 countries also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of hostages captured by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Lammy promises £40m for Gaza aid

Foreign Secretary David Lammy later promised £40m for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

He told MPs: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to show that there must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area.

“Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza, nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.”

Addressing the foreign secretaries’ joint written statement, charity worker Liz Allcock – who works for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in Gaza – told Sky News: “While we welcome this, there have been statements in the past 21 months and nothing has changed.

“In fact, things have only got worse. And every time we think it can’t get worse, it does.”

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“Without a reversal of the siege, the lack of supplies, the constant bombardment, the forced displacement, the killing, the militarisation of aid, we are going to collapse as a humanitarian response,” she said.

“And this would do a grave injustice to the 2.2 million people we’re trying to serve.

“An immediate and permanent ceasefire, and avenues for accountability in line with international law, is the minimum people here deserve.”

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 59,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

In recent weeks hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while waiting for food and aid.

The Israeli military has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.