Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

You asked us:

‘4. ALL DATA USED TO MAKE THE DECISION

• internal summaries
• analysis documents
• risk assessments
• internal guidance
• criteria or scoring documents
• Assessor instruction materials’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 7 January 2026.

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

The following response does not relate to a specific claim or claimant. This request is being answered on a general basis as requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are requester-blind, therefore the identity of the requester is not considered when responding to a request for information under FOIA.

Our response

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.

The information you requested is available in our Principles of Medical Assessment document. The full document can be found at the web link below:

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

All claims are assessed on a case-by-case basis by a medical assessor.

The eligibility criteria and medical assessment process is the same for all eligible vaccines: https://www.gov.uk/vaccine-damage-payment/eligibility

Medical assessors use resources to support their assessment. A list of resources is available at:

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

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

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 2026” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

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.

Internal Review Decision

I have carefully and objectively reviewed the way in which your original request was processed. I find that the steps taken were not in line with the NHSBSA’s procedures at the time of your request.

Whilst I uphold the original decision that the requested information is exempt under section 21 of the FOIA, there is additional information that could have been provided to you.

The NHSBSA has made available in our response to FOI 02581 training materials which it has provided to medical assessors based on the feedback it has provided during the IQA process. You can view our response and this information by clicking the weblink below and scrolling down to the end of the page:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02581

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. Because the information you requested was not related to a specific case, you were directed to the Principles of Medical Assessment document followed by all VDPS medical assessors.

For clarity, I will re-emphasise that all applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis by an independent medical assessor, and that eligibility criteria and medical assessment process is the same for all applicants and eligible vaccines.

You were also provided a list of resources that medical assessors use to support their assessment of any case.

The above information falls under the categories of ‘risk assessments’, ‘internal guidance’, criteria or scoring documents’ and ‘assessor instruction materials’ requested. ‘Internal summaries’ or ‘analysis documents’ would be categorised as very specific to an individual case, and not something that would be released under FOIA.

Next steps

If you would like to make a request for information specifically related to the VDPS case of yourself or an individual you represent, I would suggest that you make a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act. This is a request for information related to an individual. You can do this via the NHSBSA information request portal online (Submit a subject rights request for someone else - NHSBSA) or by contacting the Data Protection mailbox at dataprotection@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.If you are not content with the handling of your internal review, you have the right to complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Complaints to the ICO should be made within six weeks of the date of this letter.

You can make a complaint through their website ww.ico.org.uk/foicomplaints.

Alternatively, they can be contacted at the following postal address:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF