FOI-03493

Thank you for your request for information about the following:

<strong>Request</strong>

You asked us:

<i>‘C. Guidance, policies, and criteria applied to my case<br>
•	Copies of all guidance documents, manuals, or policy instructions relied upon by assessors or decision-makers in my case <br>
•	Any clinical or evidential thresholds used when assessing causation or disability <br>
•	Any scoring frameworks or internal criteria used to assess whether the 60% disablement threshold was met <br>

D. Equality and fairness materials 
Please provide: <br>
•	Any Equality Impact Assessments relevant to VDPS decision-making <br>
•	Any documentation showing how race or protected characteristics are considered (or not considered) in VDPS assessments <br>
•	Any training materials provided ’</i></strong>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 1 January 2026.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

The following response does not relate to a specific claim or claimant. This request is being answered on a general basis as requests under FOIA are requester-blind, therefore the identity of the requester is not considered when responding to a request for information under FOIA.

<strong>Our response</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds some of the information you have requested.

<strong>Question C - Guidance, policies, and criteria applied to my case<br> 
•	Copies of all guidance documents, manuals, or policy instructions relied upon by assessors or decision-makers in my case <br>
•	Any clinical or evidential thresholds used when assessing causation or disability <br>
•	Any scoring frameworks or internal criteria used to assess whether the 60% disablement threshold was met<br> </strong>

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. 

The information you requested is available in our Principles of Medical Assessment document. The full document can be found at the web link below:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/vaccine-damage-payment-scheme-vdps-claim-process

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

<strong>Question D - Equality and fairness materials 
Please provide: <br>
•	Any Equality Impact Assessments relevant to VDPS decision-making </strong>

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA. 
<strong><br><br>
•	Any documentation showing how race or protected characteristics are considered (or not considered) in VDPS assessments </strong>

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA.

All claims are assessed on a case-by-case basis by a medical assessor.

The eligibility criteria and medical assessment process is the same for all eligible vaccines:

https://www.gov.uk/vaccine-damage-payment/eligibility

Medical assessors use resources to support their assessment. A list of resources is available at:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/vaccine-damage-payment-scheme-vdps-claim-process<br>
<strong><br>
•	Any training materials provided</strong>

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. 

Please be advised since the disclosure of FOI 02581, this list of training materials has remained unchanged.

You can view FOI 02581 using the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02581

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

<strong>Data Queries</strong>

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>  ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

<strong>Reusing the data and copyright</strong>

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact <a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:<br>
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.


Tags: NHSBSA corporate, Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, nhsbsa, vdps
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log