Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘any other documentation that the assessor used to adjudicate my case.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 3 September 2024.

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

Our response

The requested information is held by the NHSBSA; however, under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

Information about how claims are assessed and guidance the independent medical assessors use is available from our website at:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/vaccine-damage-payment-scheme-vdps-claim-process

The Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 is available at:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/17/contents

The Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982 is available at:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/1408/contents

Please see the following link to view section 21 in full:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

Advice and assistance

Each claim is looked at by an independent, third-party medical assessor. They assess claims on a case-by-case basis.

Independent medical assessors consider full medical records along with all available scientific evidence.

To be eligible for payment under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979, it must be proved that:

the vaccine, on the balance of probabilities, caused the disability; and

the resulting disablement is severe (60% or more)

Under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), based on Schedule 2 of The Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982, severe disablement means at least 60% disabled.

The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for the policy and legislation that governs the VDPS.

Contact the VDPS team directly if you disagree with the independent medical assessor's decision at: vdps@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. They will advise you on the next steps you can take.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

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.