FOI-02753

#Request

You asked us:

*‘can I please ask how many claimants there are total and how many experts reviewing each case please’*

__*[Clarification received]*__

*‘Please send ANY AND (ALL) RELEVANT INFORMATION  
YOU CAN (LEGALLY) RELEASE THEN.! 
IF YOU SAY YOU HAVE NOTHING PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 2021.. 
STRANGE BUT OK... 
SEND ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION YOU HOLD SINSE NOVEMBER 2021.. 
SAME EXACT QUESTIONS.... 
1.HOW MANY TOTAL CLAIMANTS. 
2.HOW MANY INVESTIGATED  
3 HOW MANY CLAIMS DENIED? 
AND FOR WHAT REASON ? 
4.HOW MANY CLAIMS APPROVED? 
5.HOW LONG CLAIMS TOOK TO BE PROCESSED ON AVARAGE? 
6.HOW MANY MEDICAL INVESTIGATORS ARE INVOLVED AND THEIR QUALIFICATIONS IN CAUSE AND EFFECT AND Specifically COVID SPIKE PROTEIN VACCINES AND MULTIPAL DAMAGES SYMTOMS THAT CAN OCCUR.? 
7.WHAT MEDICAL FIELD ARE THEY EXPERTS IN ..HOW MANY YEARS IN THAT FIELD AND WHAT THE EXTENT OF EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS 
THEY HAVE AND HOLD IN COVID SERIES VACCINES AND TO INCLUDE THE SPIKE PROTEIN BASED VACCINES LIKE COVID-19 ? 
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO AND WHAT QUALIFICATIONS A PERSON CONDUCTING AN ENQUIRY INTO MY MEDICAL HISTORY HAS ALL OF THE IMPORTANT (UP TO DATE) RELEVANT INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE. 
AS NEW STUDIES BY WORLD EXPERTS ARE CONSTANTLY BEING RELEASED AND I HAVE SENT YOU A FEW.. 
TO MAKE A FAIR AND ACCURATE DECISION NEEDS TO BE AT THE FORE FRONT OTHERWISE WHATS THE POINT.. 
I WILL INCLUDE YOUR WORDS BELOW....SEND ME (EVERYTHING) YOU HAVE AND CAN LEGALLY GIVE.. 
THOUGH COVID WAS BEING REPORTED BACK IN 2019 I DO FIND IT HARD TO BELEIVE THERE ARE ZERO CLAIMS OR RECORDS... 
I AGAIN ASK IF ANY AVAILABLE I WOULD LIKE THEM..ANY AND ALL YOU CAN LEGALLY CAN DISCLOSE.  
I CAN NOT GIVE YOU A WORD FOR WORD DOCUMENT REQUEST FORM AS I DO NOT HOLD THAT INFORMATION.. 
THIS IS YOUR JOB... 
PLEASE DO NOT ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS TO A QUESTION OR REQUEST.! 
SIMPLE REALLY...NOVEMBER 2021 TILL MOST RECENT. 
Information that Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme can provide is: 
Your words.... 
The number of claims made to the VDPS 
The number of people who have been notified of an outcome. This will be broken down into: 
The number of people notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment 
The number of people who were rejected following medical assessment 
The number of people who did not meet the criteria for medical assessment’*

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

#Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. All data is as of 31 March 2025. All data relates to claims received by the NHSBSA and those transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 1 November 2021. The data relates to all eligible vaccines.

__*Question 1 – ‘HOW MANY TOTAL CLAIMANTS.’*__

20,281 claims have been submitted to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS).

__*Question 2 – ‘HOW MANY INVESTIGATED’*__

We have taken “investigated” to mean fully assessed and an outcome notified to the claimant. 12,457 claimants have been notified of an outcome following medical assessment.

__*Question 3 – ‘HOW MANY CLAIMS DENIED?’ 
and ‘AND FOR WHAT REASON ?’*__

Of the claims 12,232 claims were rejected following medical assessment.

Of the 12,232:

•	11,757 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)  
•	475 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: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/1408/schedule/2

A further 1,268 claimants have been notified their claim did not meet the criteria for medical assessment. For example, the claim was in relation to a vaccine administered outside of the UK or Isle of Man and it was not administered as part of armed forces treatment.

__*Question 4 – ‘HOW MANY CLAIMS APPROVED?’*__

225 claimants have been notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment.

__*Question 5 – ‘HOW LONG CLAIMS TOOK TO BE PROCESSED ON AVARAGE?’*__

Between 1 November 2021 to 31 March 2025, the average number of days it took from receiving the claim to communicating an outcome was 277.

The length of time it takes to progress a claim to the medical assessment stage depends on how long it takes for the healthcare providers listed on the claim form to send medical records to us. We’re working with healthcare providers to speed up their response times to requests for medical records.

__*Question 6 – ‘HOW MANY MEDICAL INVESTIGATORS ARE INVOLVED AND THEIR QUALIFICATIONS IN CAUSE AND EFFECT AND Specifically COVID SPIKE PROTEIN VACCINES AND MULTIPAL DAMAGES SYMTOMS THAT CAN OCCUR’.*__

The information on the number of assessors is not held by the NHSBSA.

I have also established that the NHSBSA does not hold information on qualifications of medical assessors. This is because the medical qualifications and experience of the medical assessors are the responsibility of the third-party medical assessment supplier, Crawford and Company.

I hope however, that the following information provides reassurance on this point:

All claims are assessed by the independent medical assessment company with a consistent approach. Each case is considered on its own merits, by an experienced independent medical assessor.

The contract with our supplier does not require them to tell us details of the qualifications of the medical assessors or their experience. The contract does require that all assessments carried out are undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced Registered Medical Practitioners. This includes being registered on the UK GMC with a licence to practise and meet or exceed the following requirements:

•	They are a Registered Medical Practitioner with at least five years’ post graduate experience, and
•	They have experience of the performance of the medical and/or disability assessment, addressing questions of causation and impact in the context of legislative or policy requirements to assist the decision maker. 

__*Question 7 – ‘WHAT MEDICAL FIELD ARE THEY EXPERTS IN ..HOW MANY YEARS IN THAT FIELD AND WHAT THE EXTENT OF EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS 
THEY HAVE AND HOLD IN COVID SERIES VACCINES AND TO INCLUDE THE SPIKE PROTEIN BASED VACCINES LIKE COVID-19 ? 
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO AND WHAT QUALIFICATIONS A PERSON CONDUCTING AN ENQUIRY INTO MY MEDICAL HISTORY HAS ALL OF THE IMPORTANT (UP TO DATE) RELEVANT INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE.’*__

Please refer to our answer to question 6, which explains why the NHSBSA does not hold information on qualifications of medical assessors. This also applies to expertise and experience. Details of the required qualifications and experience of assessors are set out above.

Regarding the name of the assessor(s), I can confirm that this information is held by the NHSBSA as it is included in the medical report received from the medical assessment supplier. All medical assessors are UK based. The name and location of the medical assessor is redacted before this report is disclosed to the claimant or their representative.

Given this will allow the medical assessor to be identified this information would not be disclosed under the exemption in section 40 subsections 2 and 3A (a) of the Freedom of Information Act.

The expectation of the medical assessors is that they will remain anonymous and will therefore not be subject to contact or pressure from claimants or campaigning groups. Given the likelihood their name and location will identify the medical assessor there is a reasonable expectation that this information will not be disclosed under FOI.

Disclosing this information would be unfair and as such this would breach the UK GDPR first data protection principle. With regards to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) there have been concerns for the health and safety of medical assessors and staff administering the scheme.

Disclosure of the name and location is likely to result in considerable distress to the medical assessor. Therefore, this information falls under the exemption in section 40 subsections 2 and 3A (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 medical assessors’ 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 medical assessor Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40

In addition, the medical assessor has not consented to this disclosure. 

#Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk 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. 

#Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. 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 2025” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

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: VDPS, Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log