Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

You asked us:

‘Confirmation of the qualifications, medical specialty, and professional registration details of the medical assessor(s) involved in my case.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 21 October 2025.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Our response

Question 1 - Confirmation of the qualifications, medical specialty, and professional registration details of the medical assessor(s) involved in my case

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 taken into account when considering a request for information under FOIA.

I can confirm that the NHSBSA does not hold the requested information. This is because the medical qualifications and experience are the responsibility of the third-party medical assessment supplier. The contract with our supplier does not require them to tell us this information.

The NHSBSA contracts a third-party supplier to carry out medical assessments for the VDPS. The job role or position of the medical assessors is performed by the third-party supplier and not the NHSBSA. I hope, however, that the following information provides reassurance on this point. All claims are assessed by an experienced medical assessor

The contract requires all assessments carried out are to be undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced Registered Medical Practitioners. This includes being registered on the UK General Medical Council 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.

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.