A CAMPAIGNER who has been calling for an inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal says she is not optimistic about the outcome following an announcement that it will be judge-led.

A full statutory inquiry is due to be held into the scandal, which involved the deaths of 2,400 people in the 1970s and 1980s after being given contaminated blood products by the NHS.

Prime Minister Theresa May said it would be judge-led, but has not yet said who it will be.

Long-time campaigner Carol Grayson, whose husband Peter was one of the victims, said: “I’m disappointed that there’s nobody been named because we were promised there would be a name.

“I don’t feel very optimistic. I wanted a Hillsborough style inquiry. Personally I think it would have been a better road to take.”

She added: “I feel exhausted by it.”

A consultation was held during the summer and a series of roundtable events took place earlier this month with people affected by the scandal.

Mrs May said: “We would like to thank each and every person who took the time to respond to the consultation, and to share their views and experiences.

“We understand how difficult these issues must have been to describe and we are grateful for the frankness and honesty with which people have shared their experiences.

“The responses to the consultation have been carefully considered by Cabinet Office officials. We can assure the House and everyone who contributed that the findings will be passed to the proposed Chair to help inform the discussions regarding the draft Terms of Reference, on which we expect there will be further consultation.”

Mrs Grayson, who is originally from Hartlepool and now lives in Newcastle, added that a decision to no longer use a discredited report, originally billed as an official account of how the scandal unfolded, was a “positive”step.

The report, “Self Sufficiency in Blood Products in England and Wales”, which was previously seen as a “definitive account” has been discredited following work by Mrs Grayson.

The Department of Health spokesperson said it had remained in use for “too long” and was no longer used.

A spokesperson said: “The 2006 document ‘Self-Sufficiency in Blood Products in England and Wales: A Chronology from 1973 to 1991’ remained in use by the Department for too long. It is no longer used.

“The infected blood scandal of the 1970s and 80s is an appalling tragedy and the Government has announced an independent statutory inquiry to ensure that victims and their families finally get the answers they have spent decades waiting for.”