Request

Please can you confirm how many:

(1) of the applicants who have made successful applications to the VDPS, and received payments, were confirmed by the VDPS 'on the balance of probabilities' to have VITT related injuries?

(2) of the applicants who were not successful in applying to the VDPS and did not receive payments from the VDPS were confirmed 'on the balance of probabilities' to have VITT related injuries?

You subsequently clarified that the time period for this data should be 1 November 2021.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your clarified request on 6 September 2024.

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

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

All data as of 6 September 2024.

All data relates to claims received by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) and those transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 1 November 2021.

All figures provided relate to COVID-19 vaccines. 

Question 1

The claimant can tell us what happened after vaccination on the claim form. At the medical assessment stage, the independent medical assessor provides a description of the assessed conditions they have been able to identify from the claimant's medical records. This can sometimes be a mixture of conditions. The condition recorded against each claim may therefore be different to the condition initially stated by the claimant on their original claim form.

All data provided relates to the conditions listed by the independent medical assessor in the assessment report.

89 medical assessment reports where the independent medical assessor decided that a Vaccine Damage Payment was due contain the search term VITT.

Question 2

The claimant can tell us what happened after vaccination on the claim form. At the medical assessment stage, the independent medical assessor provides a description of the assessed conditions they have been able to identify from the claimant's medical records. This can sometimes be a mixture of conditions. The condition recorded against each claim may therefore be different to the condition initially stated by the claimant on their original claim form.

All data provided relates to the conditions listed by the independent medical assessor in the assessment report.

82 medical assessment reports where the independent medical assessor decided that the claim did not meet the criteria for a Vaccine Damage Payment contain the search term VITT.

In line with the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979, for a claim to be successful, it must be proved that:

• the vaccine caused the disability; and

• the resulting disablement is severe

Severely disabled means at least 60% as defined by the principles for assessing the extent of disablement. These are set out in section 103 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982.

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 2024” 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.