Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what services the NHSBSA paid Crawford & Co; and what the budget for expenditure on the services of Crawford & Co is for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for 2025-26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Crawford & Company currently provides a medical assessment service for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). The VDPS budget for 2025/26, including payments to claimants, the budget for Crawford & Company, and the budget for the operation of the scheme by the NHS Business Services Authority, is £38.6 million. Final expenditure by Crawford & Company will depend on a number of variables, including the number of claims received.
Found: Applicants to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme must also meet a causation threshold determined on the
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications were made under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for redress arising from the administration of covid-19 vaccines as at 1 July 2024; and how many and what proportion of those applications were (a) decided, (b) successful and (c) rejected on the grounds that the 60% disability threshold had not been reached.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As of 1 July 2024, the NHS Business Services Authority had received 14,088 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) relating to COVID-19. Following medical assessment, 6,850 claims, or 48.6% of the total number of claims, had received an initial outcome, with 181 claims, or 1.3%, being successful and 6,062 claims, 45.1%, being unsuccessful. A further 607 claims, or 4.3%, were found invalid, due to being either outside the scope of the VDPS or a duplicate claim. Of the 6,062 unsuccessful claims, 360 claims, or 2.6%, were rejected on the grounds that the 60% disability threshold had not been reached.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent defending Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme appeals linked to Covid-19 vaccinations since 2021; and how many Vaccine Damage Payment Schemes appeals linked to Covid-19 vaccinations have been escalated to tribunal since 2021.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Between 1 November 2021 and 1 December 2024, the total spent by the NHS Business Services Authority on behalf of the Department to defend against appeals within the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme was £104,005.05. As of December 2024, 49 appeals linked to COVID-19 vaccinations have been escalated to a tribunal.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to Covid-19 vaccinations have been (a) made and (b) successful for (i) Vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis, (ii) Guillain-Barré syndrome and (iii) other conditions.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As of 3 January 2025, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) had received 183 assessed claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) relating to COVID-19 for vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis. These 183 claims reflect 1.9% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 183 claims, 92, or 50.3%, have been successful. The NHS BSA also received 224 assessed claims to the VDPS relating to COVID-19 for Guillain-Barré syndrome. These 224 claims reflect 2.3% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 224 claims, 63, or 28.1%, have been successful. Finally, the NHS BSA also received 9,480 assessed claims to the VDPS relating to COVID-19 for other conditions. These 9,480 claims reflect 95.9% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 9,480 claims, 199, or 2.1%, have been successful.
These figures reflect conditions which have been identified from the medical records of claimants. Claims may relate to a combination of these conditions and other conditions from the medical records of claimants.
Found: Covid-19 Vaccine Damage Payments Bill EXPLANATORY NOTES Explanatory notes to the Bill, prepared by
Written Evidence Jan. 29 2025
Inquiry: In DevelopmentFound: Damage Payment Scheme.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme on Covid-19 vaccinations have been (a) received, (b) successful, (c) unsuccessful as a result of the claim not meeting the 60 per cent disability threshold, (d) rejected and (e) still awaiting resolution.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As of 22 November 2024, the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) has received 17,379 claims related to COVID-19 vaccinations. Of these, 194 claims have resulted in a payment being awarded, 9,196 have been rejected, 7,173 are awaiting resolution, and 816 were found to be invalid due to either being outside the scope of the VDPS or for being a duplicate claim. Of the 9,196 rejected claims, 416 were rejected for not meeting the 60% disability threshold.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the medical assessors for the Vaccine Damages Payment Scheme have access to the scientific advice given to ministers regarding the AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) are assessed on a case-by-case basis by experienced independent medical assessors, General Medical Council registered doctors with a licence to practise, who have undertaken specialised training in vaccine damage and disability assessment.
When making medical assessment through the VDPS, independent medical assessors consider not just the claimant’s full medical records once they are gathered, but also the claim form and a range of credible resources to support their assessment, as per NHS Business Services Authority’s published VDPS Principles of Medical Assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s data, including Yellow Card information on suspected safety concerns involving a healthcare product, vaccine product information and updates, the UK Health Security Agency's Green Book, and the World Health Organization’s Causality assessment of an adverse event following immunization. Medical assessors will also consider academic research, epidemiological evidence, and the current consensus of expert medical opinion.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18797 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, how many of the claims relating to Covid-19 vaccination that have gone to tribunal have resulted in the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme Payment being awarded to the applicant.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As of 1 December 2024, 49 appeals linked to COVID-19 vaccinations have been escalated to tribunal. Eight of these appeals have now concluded, with zero resulting in a payment being awarded.