IBCA response to community group sessions on hearing and responding to your feedback and concerns

Community views are central to the design and delivery of the compensation claim service. Your feedback matters because it helps us build a service that works for you.

In July 2025, the Infected Blood Inquiry recommended that IBCA and Cabinet Office create a mechanism for community concerns to be formally raised and responded to.

We already respond to concerns and feedback raised with us, gather these into themes, and publish them on our website. This is so that you can see the most common themes we hear, and what we're doing about them. You can read the latest key themes covering January to March 2026.

We held community driven development sessions in March to discuss how we can enhance this process, and to gather information to make sure it works for the infected blood community.

Please see the published summary of these sessions for more details. We have summarised the main themes in the table below. The table also sets out IBCA’s response to the themes and suggestions we heard at these group discussions.

If you think we’ve missed any significant themes, you can use our feedback form to let us know.

Being clear about our process and keeping you informed

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
Provide clarity between what is feedback, what is a concern, and what is a complaint.	Our new feedback and concerns approach sits alongside the existing complaints process. We will ensure our website is clear on the routes for the two different processes. If you have a formal complaint about IBCA, that process remains in place and we will respond within that. Complaints should still be raised in the same way via IBCA’s complaints mailbox. We are strengthening our wider feedback and concerns process to help us to act on all the comments and feedback we receive.
Provide clarity on what is IBCA’s role and remit and what is for the Cabinet Office.	IBCA’s website will provide information on which issues are within IBCA’s remit to address and which are likely to be passed to the Cabinet Office. To make the process as simple as possible, any feedback or concerns can be sent to IBCA via feedbackandconcerns@ibca.org.uk. If the issue is for the Cabinet Office to consider, we will send it to them and confirm in writing that this has happened.
Establish a process for passing feedback and concerns between IBCA and the Cabinet Office.	We are working with the Cabinet Office to make sure there is a clear process for passing feedback and concerns between us. Any feedback and concerns received from the inbox that are for the Cabinet Office will be sent to them to respond to. We hope this makes it as simple as possible for someone to raise a concern or feedback, and know we will send it to the right place for action to be taken.
Establish a tracking system for feedback and concerns.	We have set up a tracking system for feedback and concerns. This will also allow us to identify recurring issues that people are telling us about, and act on them.
Provide indicative timeframes for responses.	We will confirm response times for how quickly we can write back to people to acknowledge receipt of any feedback and concerns received, and provide information on how these are being addressed. We will also publish themed summaries of feedback and concerns on IBCA’s website on a quarterly basis.
Establish a prioritisation criteria for time sensitive feedback or concerns (such as from somebody reaching the end of life).	If a concern is urgent and relates to an individual’s claim, this should be raised directly with the claim manager as part of your claim or via speaking to the registration support team to update us on a change of circumstance. We will confirm response times for how quickly we can write back to people to acknowledge receipt of any feedback and concerns received, and provide information on how these are being addressed.

Making it easy to provide feedback or raise a concern

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
Make multiple channels available - including online (website, email) and non-digital (postal, telephone, drop-in events).	You can continue to contact us with feedback or any concerns in the ways you already use; by email, post, phone, through your claim manager, or at IBCA events. We've also set up a new email address if you'd like to send a concern via email: (feedbackandconcerns@ibca.org.uk) in addition to our existing routes described above.
Provide information and guidance on giving feedback, raising a concern and making a complaint in an accessible format, using plain language.	We will provide clear guidance on raising feedback and concerns. This will include a description of how we will consider feedback received.
Create forms that inform and guide the structure and type of information required.	We are looking into the best way to offer this, for example as a form on the website.
Establish a route for stakeholder groups to raise systemic issues.	We talk to stakeholder groups regularly and encourage them to contact us through our engagement inbox (ibca.engagement@ibca.org.uk) as needed. We will continue to do this and are always open to hearing about other ways we can gather feedback and concerns from groups.
Provide support for older people and others who may find it difficult to give feedback or raise concerns - such as allowing family members to join telephone calls.	Members of the community are welcome to seek support from family members or others when setting out feedback or concerns to IBCA, including over the telephone or during face-to-face engagement.
Staff members dedicated to receiving and responding to feedback.	We will have a central team within IBCA to do this.

Reporting

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
Produce a regular summary report of feedback and concerns. This should be published at least quarterly, and more frequently if possible.	We will continue to publish summaries of feedback and concerns on our website. Here is the latest update. We will continue to publish these quarterly. For transparency, IBCA's Chief Executive will bring a full report of issues raised and responses provided to IBCA's public board sessions for discussion. IBCA will explore the possibility of providing interim updates on the themes emerging, noting that any changes requiring a board-level decision will need to wait for a quarterly board meeting.
Report to include information on key themes across feedback and concerns, actions being taken in response and how they are being used to improve the service.	Our quarterly reports already provide themed summaries of issues raised and how we are responding to them. We welcome feedback on these reports.
Report to include information on response times.	We will confirm response times for how quickly we can write back to people to acknowledge receipt of any feedback and concerns received, and provide information on how these are being addressed. We will ensure this is clearly communicated and accessible, for example on our website.
Community update newsletter to include information on, and answers to, recurring themes.	In response to community feedback, we will introduce a ‘what we’re hearing from you’ section in our Community Update, providing clear answers to the questions and concerns most commonly raised.
Hold regular reviews.	Where multiple connected issues are raised across a single theme, we will look to see how these can be addressed in a joined-up way by IBCA and/or Cabinet Office.

Acknowledgement, updates and follow-up

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
Acknowledge all feedback and concerns to confirm receipt, explain how it’s being considered (as feedback, a concern or as a complaint), let the person know what to expect by way of response, and when. If the feedback or concern is being shared with the Cabinet Office for their response, this should be explained clearly.	We will provide timely individual responses to those providing feedback or raising concerns, setting out how IBCA will respond to the issues raised. Where the issues raised are for the Cabinet Office to address, we will write to explain this and confirm that the feedback or concern has been passed on.
Send interim updates where there is a delay in responding to feedback or a concern, giving the reason for the delay.	It may be that feedback or concerns need more time to be addressed as effectively and fully as possible. For example when they may require changes to our existing operating processes or a board-level decision. Where this is the case, we will respond individually to explain why the issues raised are under consideration. We will write again with an update once a decision or action has been taken on the feedback received. We will be clear where responses to issues are still under consideration when we publish the regular themes update. We will include details of this, and provide an update once a decision has been made.
Make follow-up contact to ask whether the person was happy with the response.	We plan to share more information on our website about how and when we’ll respond to feedback and concerns. In situations where feedback or concerns require consideration, we will write again once a decision has been taken.

Content

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
Provide non-generic responses, in plain language.	We will respond individually to concerns and feedback raised. We will also publish regular thematic summaries and it’s always our aim to share these in an accessible format, in Plain English. We welcome feedback on this at any time.
Use clinical expertise to inform responses where appropriate (such as infection specific or mental health expertise).	We will engage with clinical experts where appropriate when responding to feedback or concerns. Please bear in mind that this process is not about individual claims or personal circumstances. Those queries should be addressed with claim managers once your claim begins.
Send confirmation of telephone conversations in writing.	It may not be possible to summarise all conversations in writing, but we will respond to people in writing in response to their feedback provided they’ve given us their email or postal details.
Establish a system to support consistency across responses.	This process will be owned by a single central team. This will help with making sure everyone gets a consistent response.

Other

Suggestions and views raised at community group sessions	IBCA response
IBCA to share knowledge and experience from working with the community with the Cabinet Office, to enhance their responses.	We will share insights from community engagement with the Cabinet Office to inform the wider work of the scheme.