Tributes have been paid to Peter Mossman who campaigned tirelessly to get justice for victims of a NHS treatment disaster which led to the deaths of thousands of people.

Mr Mossman, from Baguley, Wythenshawe was one of about 7,500 patients, who had been given blood transfusions infected with contaminated blood products. He died last month, aged 78.

The scandal, in which victims contracted hepatitis and HIV as a result of the contamination, was described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. A public inquiry into the scandal was set up by the government.

Mr Mossman was treated with contaminated blood and infected with hepatitis C in 1985 after discovering bruising on his leg. Immediately afterwards he became desperately ill  and later suffered worsening bleeds and severe liver damage. 

Peter said he would never have consented to treatment with contaminated blood products which carried a high risk of infection with HIV and hepatitis C. However, for Peter it was not only the doctors who failed to explain the dangers – the whole health system was caught up in what amounted to a conspiracy of silence.

Known to his friends and colleagues as Mossie, the Wythenshawe campaigner was the founder member of the Manor House group formed because of unhappiness that little was being done by official bodies to acknowledge the level of harm and damage caused by hepatitis viruses.

Fellow campaigners Colette Wintle and Carol Grayson on Haemophilia Society website paid tribute to Peter. They said the ribbon emblem of red, yellow and black, created by Peter’s campaign group was worn by MPs of all political parties in support of their constituents.

Peter had worked with the late Wythenshawe MPs Alf Morris and Paul Goggins alongside fellow victim Fred Bates, also from Wythenshawe.

Colette and Carol said: “Peter, alongside a small number of us, were the early activists that despite the decades that came to pass, never lost hope that truth, justice and compensation would be achieved and helped build the platform of campaigning which many recognise and build upon today.

“Mossie’s dedication to the cause has benefited many people with haemophilia within our community over the years and inspired a new generation of campaigners to add their contribution to what he helped establish.  We give thanks to Peter and value his large volume of painstaking work and the happiness he brought his fellow campaigners along the way and send our condolences and love to his family and many friends near and far.”