Request

1. The number of applications which have been made to the NHS low income scheme in each of the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 to date

2. The number of applications which have been made to the NHS low income scheme which have been rejected in each of the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 to date

3. The number of formal appeals which have been made after an application to the low income scheme was rejected in each of the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 to date

4. The number of formal appeals made after an application to the low income scheme was rejected which were successful in each of the following years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 to date

On 30 March 2023 you clarified the following:

We asked: For question 2 please can you clarify what you mean by the term ‘rejected’?

You answered: By rejected, I mean applications which were not accepted/granted for any reason.

Response

Question 1

Row Labels HC1 applications Received 2020 236,993 2021 267,248 2022 361,129 2023 69,828

Question 2

The volumes provide are applications which were assessed and no certificate was issued. We are unable to determine the specific reason why no certificate was issue.

Question 3

Although there is no formal appeal mechanism patients can contact the NHSBSA to resolve any concerns they have; staff are trained to recognise any errors in LIS assessments and will re-assess any cases accordingly, if appropriate.

Question 4

Although there is no formal appeal mechanism patients can contact the NHSBSA to resolve any concerns they have; staff are trained to recognise any errors in LIS assessments and will re-assess any cases accordingly, if appropriate.

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01022