Payments of £100,000 for the victims of the infected blood scandal are a "pivotal step" but there is still "a lot of work to be done" to ensure their suffering is compensated, a Scottish charity has warned.
The UK Government confirmed on Wednesday that thousands of survivors across will receive the interim payments in England by the end of October, while the same payments will be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Bereaved spouses and partners registered on the scheme will also receive the payouts, but the parents and children of victims will not.
The payment will be tax-free and will not affect any financial support benefits being received by the individual.
READ MORE: Blood inquiry chair orders £100,000 payouts 'without delay'
Around 3,000 people in Scotland were infected with hepatitis C as a result of contaminated blood and blood products used on the NHS during the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1980s around 80 were also infected with HIV.
The scandal has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS by outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Haemophilia Scotland welcomed the announcement but warned there are still unanswered details, including when the money would be distributed via the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Chair of the organisation Bill Wright said: “This is a pivotal step in that Government have finally acknowledged that compensation should be paid, rather than the previous policy of ‘support’.
"Compensation implies acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
"We will have to await the full findings of the UK Infected Blood inquiry to establish just how wrongly Governments have acted in the past but we can now start to move forward toward a situation where the infected and bereaved partners can start to get on with their lives more positively."
However, MrWright emphasised that much needed to be done to allow those impacted to "move on".
"Much remains to be done however, particularly for the sons, daughters and parents of those infected particularly where HIV or hepatitis C has ultimately resulted in the loss of life," he said.
"So we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that all those affected get the full compensation they deserve.
"The Infected Blood Inquiry has been a long and harrowing process. On its completion next summer we hope that Governments across the UK will finally act to ensure that all impacted by this catastrophe are able to move on and the NHS and Government take the action needed to avoid all the failures that resulted in such a disaster.”
The outgoing Prime Minister said the payments will be sent out "as quickly as possible".
Mr Johnson said: “While nothing can make up for the pain and suffering endured by those affected by this tragic injustice, we are taking action to do right by victims and those who have tragically lost their partners by making sure they receive these interim payments as quickly as possible.
“We will continue to stand by all those impacted by this horrific tragedy, and I want to personally pay tribute to all those who have so determinedly fought for justice.”
UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “The infected blood scandal should never have happened. In accepting Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations today we are taking an important step in righting this historic wrong for the thousands of people infected and bereaved partners left behind.”
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