HCV Testing for Pre-1991 Transfusion Recipients
Penrose Inquiry · The Penrose Inquiry Final Report · Issued 25 March 2015 · Addressed to: Scottish Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Scottish Government takes all reasonable steps to offer an HCV test to everyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion before September 1991 and who has not been tested for HCV.
Penrose Inquiry, The Penrose Inquiry Final Report · 25 Mar 2015 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Working Group estimated that approximately 93,600 people who received blood transfusions before September 1991 were still alive in 2015, of whom approximately 100 had acquired HCV infections and roughly 32 remained undiagnosed — a ratio of approximately 1 in 3,000 among untested transfusion recipients (Short-life working group progress report, Scottish Government, September 2016).
- The Working Group assessed and rejected retrospective donor testing (estimated cost £8-10 million, 6-7+ years), record interrogation, population notification, and general screening as impractical or disproportionate given the small number of undiagnosed cases (Short-life working group progress report, Scottish Government, September 2016).
- The Working Group unanimously recommended three actions: a targeted awareness campaign for pre-1991 transfusion recipients, direct outreach to approximately 71 plasma product recipients not yet tested, and a Chief Medical Officer letter to clinicians highlighting HCV risk factors and treatment advances (Short-life working group progress report, Scottish Government, September 2016).
- In October 2016, the Scottish Government launched the awareness campaign, distributing approximately 400,000 posters and leaflets across GP surgeries, hospitals, care homes, pharmacies, and community buildings throughout Scotland, targeting people who received blood transfusions before September 1991 (Infected blood awareness, Scottish Government, October 2016).
- Health Protection Scotland analysis showed that in the three months following the Penrose Report's publication in March 2015, HCV testing referencing blood transfusion risk increased from 7 tests in 12 weeks before publication to approximately 400 tests in the same period — extrapolated to approximately 1,000 additional tests across Scotland (Short-life working group progress report, Scottish Government, September 2016).
- In May 2024, the First Minister made a statement in the Scottish Parliament apologising to victims of the infected blood scandal (Statement on infected blood, Scottish Government, May 2024).
Response — verbatim from government
●Scottish Government
No formal government response published. Scottish Government established Short-Life Working Group with Health Protection Scotland and Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to implement testing programme.
Scottish Government · 25 Mar 2015 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 31 Dec 2015 Testing programme established. Note: The UK-wide Infected Blood Inquiry (2024) subsequently made broader recommendations covering compensation and systemic reforms. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.