Request

"A copy of every letter you have received from GPs explaining a patient has 60% disability"

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 27 November 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 claims are assessed on a case-by-case basis by an independent medical assessor. Medical assessors are General Medical Council registered doctors with a license to practise and at least five years' experience.

An independent medical assessor will consider your full medical records along with all available scientific evidence. They decide if you are due a Vaccine Damage Payment based on whether:

• the vaccine, on the balance of probabilities, caused the disability
• the level of disability is severe

Severely disabled means at least 60% disabled, assessed for the purposes of section 103 of The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/4/contents

Further principles for assessing the extent of disablement are set out in the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982, available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/1408/contents

Each claimant receives the independent medical assessor’s decision and medical assessment report by post. The medical assessment report states whether the vaccine, on the balance of probabilities, caused the disability and if so, defines the assessed disability percentage within the conclusion.

Therefore, we can confirm that we do hold the requested information, but this information is exempt under section 40(2) of the FOIA (personal information).

Section 40(2) is an absolute, prejudice-based exemption and therefore is exempt if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles. In order for disclosure to comply with the lawfulness, fairness, and transparency principle, we either need the consent of the data subject(s) or there must be a legitimate interest in disclosure. In addition, the disclosure must be necessary to meet the legitimate interest and finally, the disclosure must not cause unwarranted harm.

As we do not have the consent of the data subject(s), the NHSBSA is therefore required to conduct a balancing exercise between legitimate interest of the applicant in disclosure against the rights and freedoms of the data subject(s).

The NHSBSA acknowledges that you have a legitimate interest in disclosure of the information; however, we have concluded that disclosure of the requested information would cause unwarranted harm and therefore, section 40(2) is engaged. This is because there is a reasonable expectation that patient data processed by the NHSBSA remains confidential.

Please see the following link to view the section 40 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40

In addition, we also consider this information exempt under section 41 of the FOIA (information provided in confidence). This is because the requested information was provided to the NHSBSA in confidence.

In order for Section 41 to be engaged, the following criteria must be fulfilled:

• the authority must have obtained the information from another person,
• its disclosure must constitute a breach of confidence,
• a legal person must be able to bring an action for the breach of confidence to court, and
• that court action must be likely to succeed.

The NHSBSA can confirm that the information has been obtained from a third party and that subsequent disclosure of that information would constitute a breach of confidence. In addition, disclosure could result in a legal person being able to bring action for the breach of confidence to a court and that court action.

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.