Kitty Stewart with her son Mark

A GREAT-grandmother who lost a husband and a son to the infected blood scandal slammed the government for failing to ensure victims are paid out before they die.

Kitty Stewart, who is no longer being treated for an aggressive form of brain cancer, spoke to the New Journal about the impact of the Infected Blood Scandal from the family home in Camden Town on Monday.

The New Journal reported last week on her son Mark Stewart’s fears that her claim for compensation will die with her.

Holding Mark’s hand, the 84-year-old said: “Yes, I’m angry with the government. There should be some system for paying out the elderly people. I am different at 84 to someone 74, aren’t I?

“They said it couldn’t have happened. But it did. One minute they’re going to do something about it, the next it’s out the window. You hear so much about all these inquiries and people getting paid out. But how long have we been waiting?

“I was expecting to be able to leave this money to my family – they are the ones looking after me.”

The Stewart family has been severely impacted by a 40-year struggle for justice.

Mark, his father Angus and brother Angus Jr were given blood products that infected them with Hepatitis C during clinical trials at the Royal Free in 1981. His father and brother died of related illnesses.

Incredibly, the bungle was kept secret from the family for more than 25 years.

Mr Stewart, who worked as a plumber for large jobs at the development of St Pancras and across central London, said he had lived for many years with people not believing the story, before only recently being vindicated by a public inquiry.

The family has been calling for an apology and this week has received two statements from the chief executive of the Royal Free Hospital expressing “sincere apologies” about their individual case for the first time.

People “affected” by the scandal are only as of yesterday (Wednesday) able to start a long bureaucratic process of applying for compensation.

The compensation for relatives “affected” by the scandal has been started later than for those “infected” with contaminated blood – but this is expected to come too late for Ms Stewart, who would be due to receive around £250,000.

She has lived almost all of her life in Camden Street, Camden Town; her mother lived across Crowndale Road in Godwin Court, and worked for meals on wheels at the council.

At home, she recalled fond memories of life on her estate and her friends at the former College Arms pub.

She said she had been in the New Journal once before – after hitting a bullseye checkout for the pub’s women’s darts team.

“I am lucky. I got a big family. And I’ve got everything I need. I got the TV, although I’ve seen everything!”

The Royal Free chief executive Peter Landstrom said in a response to Keir Starmer’s office that the NHS trust

“offered sincere apologies to Mr Stewart and his family” and offered to hold a meeting with him for the first time and to “ensure the correct people are in attendance”.

The trust has also said in a statement: “We offer our sincere apologies to the Stewart family and all those affected by the errors that were indented by the Infected Blood Inquiry. We recognise that receiving infected blood products at the Royal Free Hospital in the 1970s and 1980s had a huge impact on the lives of patients and their families.

“We worked closely with the Inquiry team during their investigation and provided evidence and responded to concerns raised by former patients and their families.”

A statement from Holborn and St Pancras MP and PM Keir Starmer’s office said: “Keir has met Mark several times and we remain in direct contact with him. We know how deep an impact infected blood has had on his family and in so many others.

“We have made urgent representations to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to see what can be done to speed up any payment that Kathleen is entitled to, which is the least she deserves.

“At the end of last week, The Royal Free Hospital sent a response to enquiries that we have been making for several months regarding an apology to Mark and his family. We have shared that response with Mark directly, and will have further discussions with him in due course.”