Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Covid-19

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2022 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward, for this debate on covid-19 vaccines and the vaccine damage payment scheme. I commend the right hon. and learned Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Sir Jeremy Wright) for setting out such a compelling case for reform. As he said, the application process is painfully slow and the level of disablement is really hard to assess. Setting the level at 60%, and having a limit for compensation, really does penalise so many people who ought to benefit from the scheme. It seems crazy that the COVAX scheme is three times more generous than the scheme that we have in the United Kingdom.

I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for setting out those facts to Parliament, and I hope the Minister has taken them on board. I also thank him for setting out the case of the Scott family, particularly Jamie Scott—one of a number of people who have been affected by the covid-19 vaccination, whose voices absolutely have to be heard in this Parliament. Hopefully, we can address some of the concerns that he set out.

This issue is very important, and it is equally important that facts remain at the heart of the debate. From the outset, I want to make it clear that the covid-19 vaccination programme has saved countless lives and enabled us to reclaim many liberties that we were forced to forfeit over the course of the pandemic. Nearly 51 million people have been fully vaccinated in the United Kingdom and, for the overwhelming majority of people, the vaccine is safe and effective, and it protects against covid-19. However, we are here today to talk about the small number of people for whom the vaccine has had devastating consequences.

The data has consistently shown that, by comparison with the unvaccinated, the rates of death from covid-19 are lower for the fully vaccinated in all age groups. In August 2021, just eight months after the first vaccine had been administered in this country, the UK Health Security Agency estimated that over 90,000 lives had already been saved in England alone thanks to the vaccination programme. Covid vaccines went through several stages of clinical trials before being approved and met strict independent standards for safety, quality and effectiveness.

As with many medical interventions, there are, sadly, instances of serious side-effects and, in extremely rare cases, death. According to the Official for National Statistics, 49 deaths in England have had the covid vaccine mentioned on the death certificate since 2020. Although that is incredibly low, given the scale of the vaccine roll-out, every single one of those deaths is a profound tragedy, and I can only extend my utmost sympathy to individuals and their families who have been affected by rare vaccine side effects.

Although no amount of money can bring back a loved one or reverse physical damage, it is only right that those who have developed health problems, or who have lost a relative as a result of vaccination, can access a financial payment. As we have heard, the vaccine damage payment scheme was created back in 1979, and Members of all parties will agree that its principle is important and necessary. However, I have been concerned by reports of operational delays and inadequate support given to those who have suffered from rare vaccine side-effects. While I fully appreciate that identifying the causal link between covid-19 vaccinations and damage is a complex task, it is disappointing that the first vaccine damage payment related to the covid-19 vaccination programme was only made in July 2022—a full year after similar payments had been made in other countries such as Norway.

In November last year, the VDPS was administered by the Department for Work and Pensions alongside the Department of Health and Social Care. Since then, its management has been transferred to the NHS Business Services Authority, working exclusively on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. Given that the scale of the covid-19 vaccination programme is likely to increase applications to the scheme, can the Minister reassure colleagues that the NHSBSA and its contractor Crawford & Company will have the requisite capacity to process applications in a timely manner?

Further to that point, I note that in response to a written parliamentary question in December last year, the Minister for Health, the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield), stated that the NHSBSA will

“review the Scheme’s processes to improve claimants’ experiences through increasing personalised engagement, reducing response times and providing general support.”

She also stated:

“The NHS Business Services Authority will also work with the Department on service improvements and further digitalisation, including an online claim form to increase accessibility.”

I would therefore be grateful if the Minister responding to today’s debate could outline how that work is progressing and what recent discussions she has had with her departmental colleagues on streamlining the VDPS. I would also appreciate it if she could set out the current average processing time from when a claim is made to when it reaches its conclusion, and whether there are any plans to improve on that average processing time.

As the Minister will no doubt be aware, payment levels for the VDPS have not been reviewed since 2007, when they were increased under the previous Labour Government. In a recent response to a written question from my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq), the Minister stated:

“There is currently no formal plan to review the payment amount for the VDPS.”

Can she clarify whether that is still the Government’s position and, if so, what assessment her Department has made of the current level of support for those who are experiencing lifelong severe side effects, especially considering the evidence presented during the debate regarding the support available in countries that are part of the COVAX initiative?

I reference in particular a recent BBC report about Hamish Thomas. Hamish suffered from extremely rare side effects after a polio vaccination, and remains paralysed to this day. He rightly received a payout from the VDPS. However, Hamish says:

“In the grand scheme of things, especially for someone’s entire life span,”

the VDPS

“won’t cover the vast amounts of medical expenses that are needed to be paid for and the NHS unfortunately can’t provide.”

What assessment has the Minister made of stories such as Hamish’s, and will she commit to meeting campaigners to ensure that those who require support can access it, either through the VDPS or by other means?

It is vital that the VDPS is protected, but it is also vital that it is fit for purpose and has the confidence of the public at large. There is a right way of dealing with this, which the right hon. and learned Member for Kenilworth and Southam has set out, to avoid the litigation and the mistakes we have seen with other scandals, in particular the contaminated blood scandal. It is a public health imperative that people appreciate that vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective, but the public also deserve to know that in extremely rare cases where an individual experiences harm or damage, suitable and proportional support is available.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister. Reshuffles are difficult to predict, but I wish her well in whatever comes out of the new Prime Minister’s decisions on who’s who in the Government. As this might be our last face-to-face, and I do not know what the future holds for her, I thank the Minister for her work and for the courtesy she has shown to me as I have shadowed her from the Opposition Benches. I wish her the best of luck in whatever the Prime Minister dreams up for her new Government.