News

BBC Wales finds baby was infected with HIV after top doc ignored own rules

Published

3 weeks ago

April 12, 2024

THE latest episode of BBC Wales Investigates – broadcasting on BBC One Wales on Monday, April 15 at 8pm – has found that a 10-month-old baby was infected with HIV after a top doctor ignored their own rules.

When Colin Smith contracted HIV through contaminated blood, his parents’ house was daubed with ‘Aids dead’ and his father was forced to leave his job, the programme – Blood Money – finds.

Now 34 years on from his death from Aids at the age of seven, his family are facing another injustice.

BBC Wales Investigates reporter Wyre Davies has uncovered new evidence that Professor Arthur Bloom, the world-renowned doctor who gave him the infected imported blood product, Factor VIII, broke his own rules to do so.

NHS internal guidelines, written by Prof Bloom’s department, clearly shows that children should not be treated with imported blood because of the serious risk of infection.

“This wasn’t an accident,” said Colin senior, speaking in the programme.

“It could have been avoided.”

“I’m telling you, it was all behind a curtain,” said Colin’s mum, Janet.

“Everything Bloom done was not face-to-face it was behind-the-scenes if you like. What Prof said, what Prof done – we knew nothing about.”

Colin was born with the bleeding condition haemophilia. He was one of around 3,000 haemophiliacs who died after being infected with HIV and other viruses, like hepatitis, in imported blood products in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

These viruses got into the supply chain when high-risk donors, such as drug addicts and prisoners, in countries like the USA were paid to give blood donations. Those products were then bought by the UK.

Another victim, speaking for the first time on condition of anonymity, has kept his HIV condition a secret for almost 40 years.

He’s convinced Prof Bloom kept his HIV diagnosis from him while his wife was pregnant, and even tried to convince the couple to abort the child.

“They explained to us the situation that I was HIV positive and not to tell anyone – that was the biggest thing that hit me. Don’t tell anyone, we don’t want to frighten people. Keep it to yourselves and there’s nothing to be done. There’s no treatment available for it,” they tell the programme.

“I just hope to God it never happens again.”

“I think it’s our duty to tell this story because of the number of us that are already dead.”

BBC Wales Investigates has trawled through hundreds of pages of evidence. These documents show that drugs companies making the blood product Factor VIII, which is used to treat haemophiliacs, were aware of the risks of serious infection from the hepatitis virus as early as the 1970s.

The programme reveals that documents from Immuno AG – a pharmaceutical company which made the Factor VIII product used in the UK – shows senior executives knew products made from USA donors had a higher risk of viral infections, but they said the UK market would accept that risk because it was cheaper.

The programme captures the moment Colin Smith’s parents are shown the document for the first time.

“They weren’t worried about people’s health as far as I’m concerned. You get to a stage when you read things like that, to us it was murder,” said Colin’s mother, Janet.

Another Professor, who was mentored by Bloom and treated patients with infected blood products, told the programme that doctors and companies knew imported blood products carried serious health risks.

Prof Edward Tuddenham said: “If you go on selling a product that you know is potentially deadly just because you made a good profit from it, you’ve obviously rated your profit above the health and actually the life of the people who have been given the product.”

“There was a period when we were exposing patients to clearly horrific risk but we didn’t appreciate them or make the correct calculation of risk- benefit.”

Professor Bloom died in 1992.

The programme also examines the role of the UK Government, as the scandal was emerging, and asks why ministers continued telling the public there was “no conclusive proof” that AIDS could be carried in blood products.

And while victims, and families of victims, wait for compensation, the programme speaks to one woman who has been denied a payout, despite being able to prove she was infected with Hepatitis C through a blood transfusion in 1992 – after a cut-off date previously imposed by the government.

“It’s the recognition,” said Caz Challis. “It’s the not being told you’re not worth it. You don’t count. It’s the justice for the people who have been ignored.”

The infected blood inquiry is due to publish its final report on May 20th.

BBC Wales Investigates: Blood Money will be on BBC One Wales on Monday, April 15 at 8pm. It will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from Sunday.

Farming

Animal health and welfare workshops help family farm shape future business

Published

12 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

AN eagerness to learn new skills and knowledge is helping mother and son Dianna and Iestyn Spary to continually improve their livestock farming enterprise and build a financially sustainable business fit for the future.

Technical expertise and good business sense are not qualities the Sparys lack since embarking on an impressive number of Farming Connect workshops, covering a range of animal health and welfare topics.

“It’s been an amazing opportunity, we have learned so much that we can apply within the day to day running of our farm and herd, and we can draw on that knowledge as we look at developing new enterprises and diversifications,’’ says Dianna.

She is the fifth generation of her family to farm at Goytre Farm at New Church West, Chepstow, Iestyn the sixth.

Together they farm 110 hectares, running a Hereford-cross beef suckler herd and also rearing beef cattle purchased as baby calves, including more recently British Blues, taking these through to slaughter.

Although they have been immersed in agriculture all their lives, they recognise that it is an industry that is constantly changing as new research and ideas are rolled out and applied.

This is where the Farming Connect workshops have been so incredibly valuable, says Dianna.

“You are never too old to learn, things are changing all the time. If we hadn’t got involved in attending the workshops, we would never have known about some of those new ways of doing things.’’

From learning how to maximise suckler cow productivity and protecting youngstock health to understanding diseases such as Johne’s and bovine TB, the animal health and welfare training workshops have been “enormously valuable’’, she adds.

The pair have tapped into Farming Connect accredited training courses covering areas such as calf management, health and housing, body condition scoring and safe use of veterinary medicines.

“You name it we have done it,’’ says Dianna.

They were announced the winners of the 2023 Farming Connect Animal Health and Welfare Award at the Lantra Cymru Awards in January.

The knowledge gained through Farming Connect workshops and training has helped inform changes in the business.

“We now monitor cattle weights more closely and have introduced different ways of feeding,’’ Dianna explains.

“We have also been revamping all the cattle sheds and have a couple of new ones that will be going up.

“We’ve also invested in calf jackets and if there are any drops in weights, we are more responsive with feed intakes, little things like that.’’

Iestyn has also benefited from a number of sheep-related topics offered through the animal health workshops.

Through the Farming Connect Advisory Service, they have received specialist veterinary advice on their Herd Health Plan with a focus on incoming stock and biosecurity. They have also had guidance on soil health through the soil clinic.

The Sparys largely use traditional farming methods at Goytre Farm where they have several hay meadows.

All feed is produced on-farm. “By doing everything in-house we know exactly what we are feeding and that’s important to us,’’ says Dianna.

That distinctiveness, which sets them apart from some of the more mainstream farming systems, has given them the confidence to consider establishing a diversification into meat box sales, what Dianna describes as a ‘farm to fork’ approach.

Working with a local butcher who has an abattoir licence, they hope to do everything on-site, from slaughter through to hanging the carcass for 28 days, and then selling cuts direct to the consumer.

“We have also spoken to a chef who is going to produce some recipe cards for us to include in the boxes along with a bit of history of where the meat has come from,’’ says Dianna.

Another future project could be converting stone barns in the farmyard to holiday accommodation.

To help focus their minds on their plans, the Sparys will get guidance at a Farming Connect diversification surgery; they have also signed up for a ‘planning a diversification’ training course and will attend a ‘Dos and Don’ts of Diversification’ event in the coming weeks.

For Iestyn, another form of diversification, into agricultural contracting, has provided a secondary income stream.

His customer base is largely farms with smaller acreages with crops that require harvesting or spraying.

Farming Connect has helped with this process too as Iestyn has gained his Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides (PA1) and Safe Application of Pesticides Using Vehicle mounted Boom Sprayer Equipment (PA2).

He also offers field maintenance and fencing and works on a neighbouring farm during the lambing season.

This is where Farming Connect has again helped; through the animal health workshops, he has covered modules advising on the prevention of lambing losses and lameness, improving lamb performance post-weaning and parasite controls.

Dianna says the opportunities available through Farming Connect have really helped to drive the family farming business forward.

“We have a good relationship with our local Farming Connect development officer Lisa Powell, she has been brilliant in giving us advice on which courses and workshops are right for us and signing us up for those,’’ she says.

All your achievements, training and knowledge transfer activities are saved within your personal, online Storfa Sgiliau account, the unique, online professional development tool, available for you to view and download at any time from your BOSS (Business Online Support Service) account.

Education

Lib Dem leader meets student union after scrapping of teacher training

Published

16 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

Last week, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds visited Aberystwyth University to meet students following the announcement that the University will be scrapping their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program.

The announcement comes after the publication of an Estyn inspection report last year, which found that the institution had “been too slow” when it came to prioritising student support.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have now called for the University to produce and implement an action plan that will enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity, as well as for the Uni to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“Aberystwyth university has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.

However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.

The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the Uni’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.

The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.

We are now calling on the University to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible.

Commenting, a spokesperson for the Welsh Young Liberals said: “There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.

Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.

As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.

This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth university should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”

Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat PPC for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: “The reputation of Aberystwyth University as a well-respected centre of education is rightfully a source of pride for many residents here in Ceredigion.

This is why it is so dis-heartening to hear that the Uni have failed to take the recommendations in the 2023 Estyn report seriously, leading them into the embarrassing position of losing their accreditation which risks delivering a severe blow to the future of Welsh-medium education.

The lack of foresight from the Uni in this regard is deeply worrying and I hope that, for the sake of both the students and the wider community, they take all the steps needed to restart the course at the earliest opportunity.”