Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Our deepest sympathies are with those who have experienced harm following vaccination and with their families. Ministers recognise that concerns have been raised with the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) and continue to consider potential reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), the administrators of the VDPS, to process claims at a faster rate. The time it takes to process a claim depends on the complexity of the case and the length of time healthcare providers take to supply the requested medical records. The NHS BSA is engaging with healthcare providers to improve the return rate of these records, which is essential to assessing claims, including though submitting subject access requests.
Information on COVID-19 claims to the VDPS is published on a quarterly basis by the NHS BSA. Further information is available at the following link: