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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described the release of the infected blood inquiry report as a “day of shame for the British state”, with at least two Caerphilly residents set to receive compensation.

In a landmark report published by Sir Brian Langstaff on Monday May 20, doctors, government and the NHS were accused of letting patients catch HIV and hepatitis while they were receiving NHS care between the 1970s and 1990s.

Around 3,000 people have since died.

Two of those people directly affected were Lee Stay from Ystrad Mynach, and Kirk Ellis from Penyrheol.

Mr Ellis received contaminated blood in 1983, when he was just 18 months old – contracting hepatitis-C in the process – a virus which has caused Mr Ellis to suffer cirrhosis of the liver.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer in 2021, Mr Ellis, who was 15-years-old when he found out he’d received contaminated blood as a baby, said: “When I found out I went off the rails.

“When I was 15 I was told I might only have a year to ten years to live. I was misbehaving, I was out drinking. I never saved money and I built up debt.

“It was only when my sister had her child I realised there was more to life than this and I started to settle down.”

He added: “I’ve not had a bad life but it hasn’t been easy. I allowed this to restrict me.

“I made my haemophilia worse. I didn’t trust doctors so I didn’t see them when I had bleeds. I did a lot of physical damage to myself by not looking after myself.”

The government has said the first payments will be made by the end of the year, but added interim payments of £210,000 will be paid over the summer.

Those will be to 4,000 victims across the UK who have already received payments of £100,000.

Caerphilly’s Labour MP, Wayne David, who has been campaigning on behalf of those impacted by the scandal, said: “With the publication of Sir Brian’s Report, the full facts of this terrible tragedy can be seen.

“We now know that there was a shocking catalogue of failure, deceit and cover-up which led to this appalling scandal.

“We now wait to see if the Prime Minister will be true to his word and give full and immediate compensation to the victims. I will do all I can to make sure this happens.”