FOI-01295

<div class="nhsuk-warning-callout">
  <h3 class="nhsuk-warning-callout__label">
    <span role="text">
      <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">Important: </span>
      2026-01-16: Correction identified in Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme data    </span>
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  <p>An error has been identified in the underlying dataset used to produce this Freedom of Information (FOI) response. The issue relates to the metric “cumulative total of awarded claims to bereaved claimants” within Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) COVID-19 claim volumes and outcomes data.</p> 

  <p>The error has since been corrected in the published VDPS datasets. However, the data contained within this FOI response has not been retrospectively updated, as FOI responses reflect the information held at the time of disclosure.</p>
  <p>We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and recommend that users refer to the amended datasets for the most accurate and up-to-date figures:</p>
<p><a href="https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-non-covid-19">https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-non-covid-19</a></p>
<p><a href="https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19">https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19</a></p>
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#Request#
1) How many claims have been made to the VDPS due to an adverse reaction to a covid vaccine to date?  
 
2)How many claimants have been notified of an outcome?  
 
3)How many claims have been successful? Please provide a breakdown of which vaccine were used in the claims awarded.  
 
4)How many claims have been rejected / unsuccessful?  
 
5)What are the reasons for claims being rejected (causation, not meeting 60% threshold, ineligible to claim.) Please provide numbers? Please provide a breakdown of which vaccine was used in the claims when causation was accepted.  
 
6) Is it possible to give the conditions that have met the criteria e.g VITT, GBS?.’  
 
7) How many claims have been waiting over 12 months, 18 months for a decision?  
 
8) How many of the successful claims involved a fatality?  
 
9) How many requests for a mandatory reconsideration have been received? 
How many have been determined? Of those determined how many have been allowed/ refused?  
 
10) How many appeals to the tribunal have been filed? 
 
11) How many claims not involving a Covid vaccine have been received since the NHSBSA took over administering the scheme Nov 21? How many have been awarded, and how many have been rejected on failing the 60% disability criteria?  

#Response#
All data as of 11 July 2023. All data relates to claims received by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) and those transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 1 November 2021. All figures provided below relate to COVID-19 vaccines. 
 
###Fewer than 5 patients 
Please be aware that I have decided not to release the full details where the total number of patients falls below five. This is because the patients could be identified, when combined with other information that may be in the public domain or reasonably available. 
This information falls under the exemption in section 40 subsections 2 and 3 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act. This is because it would breach the first data protection principle as: 
 
a - it is not fair to disclose claimant personal details to the world and is likely to cause damage or distress. 
b - these details are not of sufficient interest to the public to warrant an intrusion into the privacy of the claimant. 
 
Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full. 
 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40 
 
###Breach of Patient confidentiality 
 
Please note that the identification of claimants is also a breach of the common law duty of confidence.  A claimant who has been identified could make a claim against the NHSBSA or yourself for the disclosure of the confidential information. 
 
The information requested is therefore being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 41(1) ‘Information provided in confidence’ of the Freedom of Information Act.  
 
Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full. 
 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41 
 
###Remaining information 
 
1 - 6,399 claims have been received by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). 
 
2 - 2,352 claimants have been notified of an outcome. 
 
3 - 127 claimants have been notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment. Of the 127 claims, fewer than five were Pfizer and the remaining claims were AstraZeneca. 
 
4 - 2,225 claims have been rejected, and a further 146 did not meet the criteria for medical assessment. 
 
5 - 2,048 claims were unsuccessful because the independent medical assessor recommended that, on the balance of probabilities, the vaccine did not cause the disability in question (causation). 
 
177 claims were unsuccessful because, although the claims met the criteria for causation, the independent medical assessor recommended that the vaccine has not caused severe disablement. Under the VDPS severe disablement means at least 60% disabled, based on Schedule 2 of The Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982.  
 
The requested breakdown by vaccine manufacturer has not been provided. This is because the small changes in numbers when compared to figures provided previously, in response to similar Freedom of Information requests, could result in claimants being identified. 
 
                                                                                       
6 - At the medical assessment stage, the independent medical assessor provides a description of the assessed conditions they have been able to identify from the claimant's medical records. This can sometimes be a mixture of conditions. Conditions of the 127 claims awarded a Vaccine Damage Payment: 
 
* Anaphylaxis 
* Bell's palsy 
* Transverse myelitis 
* VITT 
* Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis 
* Immune thrombocytopenia 
* Myocarditis 
* Pericarditis 
* Guillain-Barre syndrome 
* Myocardial Infarction 
* Stroke/ CVA 
* Vaccine-induced vasculitis 
* Critical lower limb ischaemia with rhabdomylosis 
* Bilateral sequential optic neuropathy 
* Acute allergic reaction 
* Acute sagittal sinus thrombosis 
* Cortical vein thrombosis 
* Multiple blood clots throughout the body 
* Epigastric pain 
* Back pain 
* Bacterial pneumonia       
* Inflammation of lungs 
* Multiple organ failure 
* Subarachnoid haemorrhage 
* Pneumonia 
* Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, the chronic form of Guillain-Barre syndrome 
* Intracerebral haemorrhage (bleed in the brain)  
* Thrombocytopaenia 
* Acute hypertension due to non-aneurysmal sub-arachnoid haemorrhage associated with vaccine administration  
* Chronic heart disease/ 
* Swelling and rashes in face, chest and fingers  
* Lost all sensation in upper limbs  
* Loss of vision/ 
* Headaches 
* Dizziness 
* Confusion 
* Seizures 
* Blood clot in the brain 
* Brain death 
* Cardiopulmonary thromboembolism 
* Neuromyelitis optica 
* Transverse myelitis 
* Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) 
* Mental health affected 
 
7 - 557 claims were received more than 12 months ago and have not yet reached an outcome. Of these 557 claims, 166 claims were received more than 18 months ago and have not yet reached an outcome. 
 
As part of the process of the scheme, we need a full set of medical records for each claimant, and it can take time for the claimant’s healthcare providers to gather and securely supply copies of these records. 
 
Once sent for assessment, the time it takes for the independent medical assessor to review a claim can vary from case to case depending on the individual circumstances of each claim. 
 
8 - 44 of the claims where an award outcome has been communicated were made on behalf of someone who has died. 
 
9 - 271 requests for a mandatory reversal have been received. 26 mandatory reversals have been reassessed. Of these, fewer than five claimants have been notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment and the remaining have been rejected. 
 
10 - Fewer than five appeals have been received.  
 
11 - 244 claims not involving a COVID-19 vaccine have been received by the VDPS. None of these claims have been awarded. Fewer than five claims were unsuccessful because, although the claim met the criteria for causation, the independent medical assessor recommended that the vaccine has not caused severe disablement. Under the VDPS severe disablement means at least 60% disabled, based on Schedule 2 of The Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982. 


Tags: Vaccine Damage Payments
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log