Health Secretary Says UK ‘Must Be Transparent Coming Out of COVID Around Excess Deaths’

UK health secretary Steve Barclay arrives ahead of a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, on Nov. 22, 2022. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Media)

Health secretary Steve Barclay has acknowledged the issue of excess deaths as a resurfaced summer report indicates that the NHS has anticipated £1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) for COVID-19 compensation claims.

On Monday in a speech at the Spectator Health Summit in London, Barclay said that “one shared point of understanding must be the scale of the COVID backlog, with around now 7.1 million patients.”

“We must also be transparent coming out of COVID around excess deaths,” he said.

“For example, we know from the data that there are more 50- to 64-yearolds with cardiovascular issues. It’s the result of delays in that age group seeing a GP because of the pandemic and in some cases, not getting statins for hypertension in time,” he added.

“When coupled with delays in ambulance times we see this reflected in the excess death numbers. In time, we may well see a similar challenge in cancer data,” said Barclay.

£1.3 Billion in Future Compensation Payments

Barclay’s comments follow recent media articles that have picked up an annual report from the summer from NHS Resolution (pdf), the operating name of the NHS Litigation Authority, which handles clinical negligence and other claims against the NHS in England.

This shows that the health service anticipates £1.3 billion in future compensation payments.

It says that the main driver of the increase relative to 2020/21 is “the higher number of assumed claims in relation to the indirect impacts of Covid-19 of delays, cancellations and misdiagnosis reflecting longer waiting lists.”

“While a small number of claims related to Covid-19 have been received, it will take several years for the impacts of Covid-19 to fully materialise, due to the time lags between incidents, claims and ultimately their settlement,” NHS Resolution wrote in the report.

“As a result, there is limited experience from which to quantify the impacts of Covid-19 on the provisions and our estimates are subject to uncertainty,” it added.

A hospital in the United Kingdom in an undated file photo. (Victoria Jones/PA)

‘COVID-19 Liabilities Are Only a Small Part’

An NHS Resolution spokesman told The Epoch Times that COVID-19 provisions for 2021/22 “will be higher than the provisions for 2020/21 because we are now accounting for two years’ worth of claims instead of one.”

“We have also allowed for increases in waiting lists seen over the last year, and for lower than anticipated disruption to NHS services from COVID,” he said.

Of the £1.3 billion provision for claims expected to arise from COVID-19, he said that £470 million ($560 million) will be for “direct” claims relating to the treatment of COVID-19 versus £350 million ($418 million) for 2020/21.

Around £610 million ($728 million) will be for “indirect” claims relating to delays and misdiagnosis, versus £310 million ($370 million) for 2020/21.

He added that the remainder is “for vaccination administration, employee liability claims, IS member activity, and designated care settings.”

“These estimates are based on very limited claims data given time lag between incidents occurring and claims being received in clinical negligence cases. Overall, COVID liabilities are only a small part of the provisions, representing approximately 1 percent of the total provisions,” he said.

“The provision held for future compensation payments, which may be made several years into the future, is an estimate held in the government accounts. We do not ‘set-aside’ or ‘collect’ billions of pounds for future compensation payments as NHS Resolution is not a commercial insurer and so does not need to hold reserves for future liabilities,” he added.

Higher Excess Deaths

Almost 7.1 million patients in England were waiting to start their hospital treatment in September, up from 7 million in August, NHS statistics showed in November.

According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics, in 17 of the last 21 weeks, England and Wales have seen higher excess deaths than in the same weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health and Social Care previously told The Epoch Times that “analysis is ongoing” on the causes of elevated excess deaths and that early investigation suggests circulatory diseases and diabetes may be partly responsible for the majority of excess deaths.

Those who are damaged by a COVID-19 vaccine can get financial support through England’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), which is limited to a single, lump-sum payment of £120,000 ($136,000).

Under VDPS, COVID-19 vaccine harms are recognised when a causative link between vaccination and injury is established and a “severe disability,” or a 60 percent level of disablement, is proven. There are several British law firms calling on individuals to get in touch as soon as possible for such claims.

In September, UK politicians discussed in Westminster the lack of support for victims and how the VDPS process of payments could be made “timely and simple.”

Lily Zhou contributed to this report.