GP surgeries across England will soon begin asking new patients if they had a blood transfusion before 1996, as part of a national NHS initiative to identify those unknowingly affected by the contaminated blood scandal.
From 16 June 2025, people registering with a GP online and born on or before 31 December 1995 will be asked whether they received a blood transfusion. Those who answer yes will be offered a free test for hepatitis C, a virus that can cause serious liver damage if left untreated.
Each year, around 400,000 people born before 1996 register with a new GP in England. These new checks aim to find people who may have been infected decades ago but remain undiagnosed. Hepatitis C often shows no symptoms for many years, meaning many could be unaware they are carrying the virus.
Patients will be able to order a discreet, at-home self-testing kit from the NHS – a quick finger-prick blood sample that is posted to a lab – or access testing through GP surgeries, sexual health clinics and other NHS services.
The move follows a key recommendation from Sir Brian Langstaff’s Infected Blood Inquiry, published in May 2024, and has now been implemented as NHS policy. The questions will remind patients of common reasons for transfusions, such as after accidents, surgery, or complications during childbirth.
A simple step, potentially life-saving
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, said:
“This simple change to the GP registration process is a vital step in ensuring that nobody affected by contaminated blood is living undiagnosed and unsupported.”
Health Minister Ashley Dalton called the contaminated blood scandal “one of the gravest injustices this country has ever seen” and stressed the importance of tangible action.
Rachel Halford, CEO of the Hepatitis C Trust, welcomed the move:
“Every two weeks, we hear from someone infected through a transfusion who is only now finding out. Thanks to advances in treatment, hepatitis C can now be cured quickly with a short course of tablets.”
Free home testing kits for hepatitis C are available to anyone over 18 living in England via the NHS website at hepctest.nhs.uk.