A LONG-awaited report into the use of contaminated blood by the NHS has been branded ‘a whitewash and disgrace’, by an East Lancashire man who was was infected with HIV.

The 59-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, was among hundreds of victims who reacted furiously to the findings of the Penrose Inquiry, which examined how thousands of patients came to be infected with hepatitis C and HIV between 1970 and 1991.

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This was a result of prisoners’ blood being used in NHS transfusions for haemophiliacs.

After a six-year inquiry costing about £12 million, retired judge Lord Penrose concluded more should have been done to screen blood and donors for hepatitis C in the early 1990s, and collecting blood from prisoners should have stopped earlier.

But on HIV, he found that once the risk emerged, ‘all that could reasonably be done was done’.

The publication of the five-volume document prompted apologies from the Prime Minister and the Scottish government, which commissioned the report, but victims and their relatives said it lacked answers.

The victim from Blackburn said: “I’m just disgusted by this report, as we expected him to lay blame at someone’s door.

“It’s been a 30-year battle and we got a 30-second apology in the House of Commons.

“According to Penrose no one’s done anything wrong. I have never received any compensation but it’s gone beyond money now.

“They think it’s been settled but we’re still fighting and we’ll continue to fight.”

Some campaigners burned a copy of the report outside the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh where a press conference was held.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron said: “It is difficult to imagine the feelings of unfairness that people must feel at being infected with hepatitis C and HIV as a result of a totally unrelated treatment within the NHS.”

Lord Penrose, who did not attend the publication due to serious illness, said the impact on those who had been infected had been ‘devastating’ and also commented on the ‘forgotten suffering’ of clinical staff who administered the contaminated blood products.