IBCA hosts visit from The Haemophilia Society
- The Haemophilia Society visits Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) to meet staff at the heart of the compensation claims process
- The visit was an opportunity for IBCA’s team to hear the questions being raised by members of the Haemophilia and bleeding disorder community
- The visit forms part of IBCA’s commitment to listen and learn from the infected blood community and their representatives
Representatives from The Haemophilia Society visited IBCA recently to meet with staff and to share their insight into the questions often asked about the infected blood compensation claims process.
Visitors met with claim managers who work directly with people making a compensation claim, including Kieran who was one of the first IBCA claim managers. They also met and spoke with the team who answer community queries.
Sessions across the day focused on developing guidance to support people whose claims may be complex (for example where probate issues are unresolved) and finding out more about how IBCA accesses information to support claims.
Speaking after the visit, Interim Chief Executive for IBCA, David Foley, said:
“The infected blood community are at the heart of everything we do at IBCA, and we continue to listen to and learn from the community and those that represent them.
“The latest visit from The Haemophilia Society is part of IBCA's ongoing commitment to regularly engage and update all those impacted and their representatives.
“The Haemophilia Society is an important source of information and support for many people who are making claims through the compensation service and we welcomed the opportunity to show our visitors the claim process and to discuss a range of important topics.
“We have listened carefully about the experience of their community members, and continue to welcome their expertise and insight which will help us to develop our services.”
IBCA has taken a community-driven approach to developing the scheme since it opened to compensation claims late last year.
The visit was an opportunity for IBCA staff to listen to the expertise and insight of members and representatives of the Haemophilia and bleeding disorders community, which will be used to inform how the claim service is designed.
The visit came after a series of virtual community group sessions took place recently to gather feedback about IBCA’s proposed approach to registration and prioritisation for compensation.
Feedback from community group sessions has provided key learning for the development of the claims service as IBCA works to open the service to more groups as soon as possible.
Debra Morgan, Head of Policy and Campaigns at The Haemophilia Society, said:
“It is very important that we keep in close contact with IBCA to ensure that any concerns or poor experiences raised by our members are dealt with quickly. Our visit also gave us a useful insight into how claims are evidenced, particularly when documentation is missing, which is an issue that is worrying many applicants.”
IBCA is committed to paying compensation to each and every person who is entitled, as quickly as they can. By working with the infected blood community, IBCA has nearly contacted all living infected people registered with a support scheme to start their claim. IBCA expects to open the service to all groups within the next few months.
You can read more about the community sessions on registration and prioritisation held by IBCA on their website.
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