Susan Deacon: Has rejected compensation

The minister repeated the Executive's pledge to look "constructively" at the English court ruling and its possible implications north of the border.

But she said government policy had always been to reject paying out compensation in cases where no negligence had been proved.

"Any shift to no fault compensation would have an impact on patient care and clinical practice and these are not changes to be made lightly," the minister said.

But Ms Deacon was accused of being "intransigent" by committee member SNP health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon, who urged Ms Deacon to explain why HIV and hepatitis C sufferers are treated differently.

Enormous reaction

Ms Sturgeon said: "People can't understand why the line is drawn between HIV and hepatitis C.

"Whatever the reasons for that are, there is a glaring iniquity there that is indefensible."

The minister pointed out the decision to pay compensation to HIV sufferers was taken by the previous Conservative Government and said the circumstances surrounding that decision were different from what faced the executive now.

Ms Deacon said: "At the time HIV/Aids came to public notice, there was an enormous reaction to that in a number of different ways.

"There was a relatively small number of people affected and at that time it was a virtual death sentence.

Worked actively

"There was also a prevailing view around at that time that there were those who were innocent victims of HIV, in other words it was not because of their lifestyle."

As many as 317 Scots haemophiliacs were accidentally infected with Hepatitis C in the 1980s before a reliable screening test was developed for the new Factor VIII blood product.

A report to Ms Deacon in October last year cleared the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) of blame for haemophiliacs contracting hepatitis C.

It said the SNBTS "worked actively" to find a way of eliminating the virus.

So far the Scottish Executive has refused compensation on the grounds there was no negligence.

Blood products

However, the successful English challenge was not based on negligence.

It was based on the fact patients had been given faulty products.

Lawyers are considering the same legal challenge in Scotland.

Blood products have been screened for hepatitis C since 1991.

There should now be no risk to patients.