Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 7 July 2025 to Question 64393 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus, what steps he is taking to improve the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my profound and sincere sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
The Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), to take steps to improve the scheme and process claims at a faster rate. Building on work to scale up and modernise operations through the digitisation of the claims process and increasing administrative staff working on the VDPS, the NHSBSA is engaging with healthcare providers to improve the return rate of medical records, essential to assessing claims, including through submitting subject access requests.
In parallel, Ministers continue to actively consider a range of options for further reforming the VDPS.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to FOI request 24/015 to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, if he will publish the responses received from the Swedish Medical Products Agency following their offer to contact (a) children and (b) teenager psychiatrists.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have confirmed that the response received from the Swedish Medical Products Agency in relation to the 2008 assessment of preclinical data published within FOI 24/015 did not contain an offer to contact psychiatrists responsible for the care of children and teenagers.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his department allocated to the indemnity schemes in place for Covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide full information as requested regarding the valuation of the COVID-19 vaccine indemnities due to their commercial sensitivity.
The existence of the COVID-19 vaccination indemnities is disclosed in the contingent liabilities note within the Department’s group annual report and accounts (ARA). The value of the contingent liabilities was not disclosed due to their sensitive nature. There is also a provision for a COVID-19 vaccination indemnity included in the ARA as part of ‘other’ in the provisions note.
The most recently published ARA is available at the following link:
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 11 March 2025 to Question 34608 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Appeals, whether past tribunal decisions are used to support assessments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) appeal cases are overseen by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and processed through the First-tier Tribunal. Upon conclusion of an appeal, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) receives a Statement of Reasons from the presiding judge. This document is reviewed by NHSBSA and used to inform and support continuous improvement initiatives within the organisation.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will consider reviewing the Allied Healthcare Professional status list to include chiropractors as part of the government’s wider review of the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are able to make independent decisions on which health professionals they employ and may commission a limited amount of chiropractic treatment.
There are no plans by either the Department or NHS England to review the health and care professions that are classified as an allied health profession.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will (a) support further integration of chiropractic care into NHS services across Tatton and (b) give chiropractors Allied Healthcare Professional status.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are able to make independent decisions on which health professionals they employ and may commission a limited amount of chiropractic treatment.
There are no plans by either the Department or NHS England to review the health and care professions that are classified as an allied health profession.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what litigation costs his Department incurred in Wilson and others v Bayer Pharma and others, [2023] EWHC 1282 (QB); and how many representatives of his Department attended the Royal Courts of Justice for that hearing.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A total of £469,613.30 in legal costs, as of the end of May 2025, excluding VAT, has been incurred by the Department of Health and Social Care via the Government Legal Department representing them on the Wilson and others v Bayer Pharma and others case. Another matter, Forshaw, was litigated at the same time where the costs were included within the billing for Wilson, but it is not possible to split the costs on these cases because that data is not available in that format.
Four legal representatives on behalf of the Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) attended the hearing in May 2023 at the Royal Courts of Justice, namely a senior Government Legal Department lawyer accompanied by a legal executive, and two Counsel, a King's Counsel and a barrister. There were no attendees from the Department of Health and Social Care or the MHRA.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the FOI request 2024/00205, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans to publish (a) details of its investigation into the advertising activities of the company Zoe and (b) for what reason the conclusion of the investigation has been delayed.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) investigates allegations of non-compliance with medical device regulations. Where appropriate, they can use their enforcement powers to ensure action is taken against devices that pose a serious risk to public health. All investigations are handled in a timely manner.
Information about allegations of non-compliance, investigations, and outcomes are generally exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, therefore the MHRA does not routinely publish the outcomes of their investigations, including those within the Freedom of Information request referenced. However, where there are concerns about the safety of a medical device, the MHRA will warn the public, for example through National Patient Safety Alerts.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 94 of his Department's policy paper entitled Fit for the future: 10 year health plan for England, published in July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of transferring the hosting arrangement for the Patient Safety Commissioner to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the level of independence of that post.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dr Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape was published in July 2025. The review sets out a broad aim to streamline, simplify, and consolidate functions across the patient safety landscape. Dr Dash made nine recommendations which the Government has accepted in full and fed into the 10-Year Health Plan.
The review specifically recommends that the patient safety commissioner is hosted by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. The office of the patient safety commissioner remains accountable to the Department, as it is now.
The Patient Safety Commissioner will play an important role in holding the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to account for its work on patient safety and in ensuring that patient safety and the voice of patients remains a core priority in the agency’s work.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the report on packaging changes to Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, as discussed at the Commission on Human Medicines Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group on 1 May.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A public assessment report will be published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after the completion of the review. The advice of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) will be sought after the next meeting of the Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group (EWG) in July 2025.
The public assessment report will contain the minutes of all EWG meetings and the CHM’s advice on any regulatory action required. It is anticipated that the public assessment report will be published by the MHRA in Autumn 2025.