Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 39387 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, if he will make an estimate of the number of assessments that have missed the 95 per cent target; how many of those have been delayed by more than (a) one, (b) six and (c) 12 months; and whether penalties have been imposed on Crawford & Company for missed deadlines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between January 2024 and December 2024, the percentage of medical assessment reports returned within 15 working days of receipt of a fully completed medical record was 99.8%. In the same period, 10 medical assessment reports were not returned within the 15-day timeframe. Of these, nine reports were returned within a month, with one report delayed by more than a month. No medical assessment reports were delayed either by more than six or 12 months.
The supplier has previously had service credits applied as a result of not returning medical assessment reports to the NHS Business Services Authority within 15 working days. As the supplier has achieved above 95% in relation to this target since August 2023, no service credits have been applied since 2023.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March to Question 39386 on NHS Business Services Authority: Crawford & Company, how much of the budget of £38.6m is set aside for the payment of VDPS claims; and what the forecast is for the number of applications to the VDPS to be processed by Crawford & Co for 2025-26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For the 2025/26 financial year, the budget allocated for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is £38.6 million. The forecasted amount within this budget for vaccine damage payments is approximately £9 million. The budget for the 2025/26 financial year is based on estimates that approximately 8,500 assessments, including mandatory reversals, will be carried out in 2025/26.
The budget allocated for payments has no bearing on the outcomes of individual assessments. The NHS Business Services Authority will request additional funding from the Department to process additional claims if needed, for example if the number of claims received is more than forecasted.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason applicants seeking mandatory reversal of decisions made by the NHSBSA on vaccine damage claims are required as a precondition to adduce fresh evidence without which no mandatory reversal is possible; and whether there is statutory provision for such a restriction.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's contract entitled Medical Assessments: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, procurement reference, CF-0724900D0O000000rwimUAA, whether Crawford & Company are required to respond to Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme claims within a specified time period; and whether they receive rewards on account of the speed of assessments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The length of time it takes to process a Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claim varies from case to case. This is because medical records will often be gathered from claimants’ healthcare providers before a claim undergoes medical assessment, and receiving a claimant’s records can take time.
95% of the assessments that are shared with an independent medical assessor should be returned to the VDPS administrators, the NHS Business Service Authority, within 15 working days. Sometimes this can take longer because medical assessments are complex, and these medical assessors will review individual medical records, which can be thousands of pages.
No rewards are provided within the contract.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme claims on Covid-19 vaccinations which have been accepted following mandatory reversal based upon (a) additional evidence provided and (b) existing evidence.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Claimants to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) can ask for a reassessment, known as a mandatory reversal, if they disagree with the medical assessor’s decision on the eligibility of their claim. Additional evidence must be added before it is reassessed, and this can include medical records.
Between 1 November 2021, when the NHS Business Services Authority took over administration of the VDPS, and 20 March 2025, 25 claims have been awarded a Vaccine Damage Payment following a mandatory reversal. Additional evidence was provided for all of these claims.
No claims have been reassessed without additional evidence.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what services the NHSBSA paid Crawford & Co; and what the budget for expenditure on the services of Crawford & Co is for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for 2025-26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Crawford & Company currently provides a medical assessment service for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). The VDPS budget for 2025/26, including payments to claimants, the budget for Crawford & Company, and the budget for the operation of the scheme by the NHS Business Services Authority, is £38.6 million. Final expenditure by Crawford & Company will depend on a number of variables, including the number of claims received.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the application by the South Coast Medical Group for the establishment of a surgery in Burton as a Branch of The Grove Surgery was made; and when a decision will be given.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on applications for the establishment of new surgeries as it is for integrated care boards, as part of their commissioning responsibility for primary care, to consider applications for any new general practice surgeries.
The hon. Member may wish to raise this issue with the local integrated care board directly, so it can investigate this further. Their contact details at available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/find-your-local-integrated-care-board/
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training medical assessors of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations receive; what qualifications are needed to become such an assessor; what continuing professional development requirements must such assessors meet; whether such assessors are required to work in-person and not remotely; and to what supervision are such assessors subject.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical assessments are carried out by an independent, third-party supplier. The supplier manages the medical assessors' training and work arrangements, organises for each medical assessment to be peer reviewed by another medical assessor, and is responsible for ensuring that medical assessors continue their professional development.
All medical assessors are General Medical Council (GMC) registered doctors with a license to practise and a minimum of five years' post graduate experience. They are held to strict professional standards set by the GMC and, in addition to their five years’ post graduate experience, assessors must have experience of undertaking a medical and/or disability assessment, and of addressing questions of causation and impact in the context of legislative or policy requirements.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) medical assessors are in post; and how many assessors have left since the roll-out of the VDPS to covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of medical assessors is managed by a third-party supplier and varies depending on the volume of claims received, as well as the volume of medical records received from healthcare providers. Since COVID-19 was added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Act 1979, the number of medical assessors assessing claims has significantly increased.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal; how many and what proportion of such requests (a) were rejected and (b) have been outstanding for more than (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) 12 months; and how many and what proportion of rejected requests were referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 27 February 2025, 1,657 applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal. Re-assessment has been completed for 1,073 of these applications, with 21, or 2% of, decisions reversed. A reversal does not mean that the original decision was incorrect, as claimants provide additional information during the mandatory reversal process which can alter the outcome of the assessment.
Of the outstanding claims, 333, or 20% of the total mandatory reversal applications, have been outstanding for more than three months. Of those, 200, or 12%, have been outstanding for more than six months, and of those 81, or 5%, have been outstanding for more than 12 months. 69, or 7% of, rejected mandatory reversals have been referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.