Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) applications have been received under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme from people reporting disabilities resulting from the COVID-19 vaccination and (b) awards related to covid-19 vaccinations have been made through that scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest data from the National Health Service Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), show that as of 3 October 2025 (a) 22,079 VDPS applications have been received through the scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccinations. Of these, following medical assessment, (b) 237 applications have resulted in a payment being awarded.
Information about COVID-19 claims to the VDPS is published on a quarterly basis by the NHS Business Service Authority. Data is available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS staff employed in Band 2 roles with pay and conditions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 22 May, the Department accepted the headline pay recommendations made by the independent NHS Pay Review Body. This means Agenda for Change (AfC) staff in England, including Band 2 staff, have received a 3.6% uplift, giving them an above forecast inflation pay rise for the second year in a row. The process for the 2026/27 pay round is already underway, with the Department publishing its evidence to the Pay Review Bodies on 30 October.
We have also agreed to provide the NHS Staff Council with a funded mandate to negotiate changes to the AfC pay structure. We will work in partnership with the NHS Staff Council to implement these changes for 2026/27.
We continue to work in partnership with stakeholders, including trade unions and employers, to implement a suite of non-pay measures to improve working conditions for National Health Service staff, such as tackling violence against NHS staff and improving the application of the Job Evaluation Scheme.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to support the continued (a) development and (b) implementation of NHS England’s elective toolkit for aortic dissection in the context of the planned abolition of NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will continue to support the implementation of NHS England’s acute aortic dissection toolkit which was published in 2022 by NHS England.
In collaboration with the ‘Earnest’ trial, NHS England will undertake a stocktake of implementation progress, the findings of which will be shared with regional commissioning teams and clinical networks to support further action as required.
NHS England’s national team is also working with the vascular and cardiac professional societies to develop a type B, elective aortic dissection toolkit, which is anticipated for publication in 2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) reviewing and (b) increasing the level of payment provided under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve access to Padcev for (a) patients who have undergone chemotherapy and (b) all patients.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded for eligible patients based on an assessment of the evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness.
NICE issued guidance that recommends enfortumab vedotin (Padcev) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), within its marketing authorisation, as an option for untreated unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in adults when platinum-based chemotherapy is suitable. It is now available for NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta1097/chapter/1-Recommendation
NICE was unable to make recommendations on the use of Padcev in the treatment of people who have previously undergone chemotherapy as the manufacturing company, Astellas, did not provide an evidence submission. Astellas has confirmed that there is unlikely to be enough evidence that the technology is a cost-effective use of NHS resources in this population. NICE will review the position if the company decides that it wants to make an evidence submission.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to continue supporting the implementation of NHS England’s acute aortic dissection toolkit after the proposed abolition of NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will continue to support the implementation of NHS England’s acute aortic dissection toolkit.
In 2022, NHS England published the Acute Aortic Dissection Toolkit to support service transformation across England. Initial implementation support was provided by NHS England’s national team, however, responsibility for implementation has now transitioned to regional commissioning teams and integrated care boards, to oversee and monitor progress. The toolkit includes self-assessment questionnaires for providers and clinical networks to use as part of their assurance and monitoring processes. In collaboration with the EARNEST trial, NHS England will undertake a stocktake of implementation progress across centres, the findings of which will be shared with regional commissioning teams and clinical networks to support any follow up actions as required.
NHS England’s national team is now working with the vascular and cardiac professional societies to develop a type B, elective aortic dissection toolkit, which is anticipated for publication in 2026.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to support the continued (a) development and (b) implementation of NHS England’s elective toolkit given NHS England's planned abolition.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Elective toolkit does not have one single function, as there are multiple different toolkits available. For example, the Children and young people’s elective recovery toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time toolkit, to support the development of elective surgical hubs.
As part of the transformation programme, we are reviewing the appropriate options to merge existing functions between NHS England and the Department, to ensure we maintain progress on tackling the elective waiting list. We will continue to support the wider system through the transformation and will ensure they have the tools and resources available to deliver on the commitments outlined by the Government.
Cutting elective care waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, and the steps we have taken have resulted in a 220,000 reduction in the waiting list over the last year.
We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered 5.2 million more appointments. This marks a vital first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029. We will create an NHS fit for the future, modernising care so that it takes place efficiently and closer to home, prioritising patient experience and ensuring that wherever you live in England, you will be seen, diagnosed, and treated in a timely way.