Request

I am writing to formally request detailed information regarding the number of individuals registered with the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) who were infected with hepatitis C, HIV, or both on or before or after September 1991. I understand that as of January 31, 2024, there were 3,670 registered beneficiaries under the scheme. However, I am specifically seeking a breakdown of how many of these individuals fall within the aforementioned timeframe.

As of the available data up to March 31, 2025, there is no explicit figure provided in the search results for the number of individuals registered with NHSBSA's England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) infected on or before or after September 1991.

This information is critical for understanding the historical scope of the blood contamination issue and its impact on beneficiaries. I appreciate that NHSBSA maintains comprehensive records of applications and beneficiaries in accordance with data protection requirements, as outlined in your published policies and reports.

I am writing to formally request aggregated statistical data under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding beneficiaries of the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS). Specifically, I seek the following anonymized information:

1. How many people in all are registered with the NHSBSA for the blood contamination
2. The total number of registrants infected on or before September 1991 (up to the scheme’s closure on March 31, 2025)
3. Total number of registrants infected with hepatitis C, HIV, or co-infections after September 1991 (up to the scheme’s closure on March 31, 2025)
4. A breakdown by type of infection (hepatitis C, HIV, or co-infection).
5. A breakdown of registrants acceptances(application) on Merit of requirements and those accepted on Probability.
6. Any additional relevant data such as Ethnicity, Male or Female regarding this subset of beneficiaries that can be shared under applicable data protection laws would be helpful.

I understand that personal data cannot be disclosed due to privacy regulations; however, I am requesting aggregated or anonymized data to ensure compliance with these standards. This request excludes personal identifiers and focuses solely on anonymized statistical data.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response and am happy to provide further clarification if needed. Please feel free to contact me via email or phone at any time.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 14 April 2025.

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

Our response

Questions 2, 3, 5, and 6:

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA. This is because EIBSS does not collect this information.

Fewer than five

Please be aware that in question 4, where the change since the most recently disclosed figure is fewer than five, the information has been withheld. This is because there is a risk of the identification of individuals, when combined with other information that may be in the public domain or reasonably available. Please note that the change can be an increase or a decrease.

Consequently, the requested 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 in order to provide the full picture of the requested data held by the NHSBSA; 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

Breach of confidentiality

Please note that the identification of individuals is also a breach of the common law duty of confidence. An individual who has been identified could make a claim against the NHSBSA for the disclosure of the confidential information.

This information is therefore 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.

Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41

Remaining Information

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. The data is correct as of the March 2025 dashboard:

Question 1: How many people in all are registered with the NHSBSA for the blood contamination Total number of people registered on EIBSS

3,866

Question 4: A breakdown by type of infection (hepatitis C, HIV, or co-infection).

The figures below are the current breakdown of infection types and numbers within the scheme:                                                                   Hep. C Stage 1: 1,463

Hep. C Stage 2: 540

Special Category Mechanism: Please note there has been a change of less than five since FOI-02436 which was confirmed as 533 from 6 January 2025 and therefore, confirmation of the current figure is exempt under section 40(2) and 41 of the FOIA 2000, as noted above.

HIV: Please note there has been a change of less than five since FOI-02372 which was confirmed as 67 from 25 November 2024 and therefore, confirmation of the current figure is exempt under section 40(2) and 41 of the FOIA 2000, as noted above.

Co-Infected (HIV & Stage 1): Please note there has been a change of less than five since FOI-02436 which was confirmed as 79 from 6 January 2025 and therefore, confirmation of the current figure is exempt under section 40(2) and 41 of the FOIA 2000, as noted above.

Co-Infected (HIV & Stage 2): Please note there has been a change less than five since FOI-02372 which was confirmed as 57 from 25 November 2024 and therefore, confirmation of the current figure is exempt under section 40(2) and 41 of the FOIA 2000, as noted above.

Co-Infected (HIV & SCM): 81

Links to the referenced FOI requests are below:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02372

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02436

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”. 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.