The Committee concludes that the clinical care provided for Servicemen and women seriously injured on operations is second to none.
Rehabilitation services, especially at Headley Court, are recognised as exceptional, making an enormous contribution to the welfare of injured Service personnel. Furthermore, the Committee commends the MOD's sound decision to base its secondary care around units embedded in NHS Trusts, allowing military clinicians to maintain and develop their skills, with a case load and mix that could not be matched by stand-alone military hospitals.
Under Secretary of State for Defence, Derek Twigg MP, said:
"Over the last 18 months we have worked very hard to ensure that the medical care we provide remains world-class whether it is on the front-line or back in the UK. Every day our doctors, nurses and other medics give dedicated care to their patients, some times in the most arduous of circumstances on deployed operations. They are all a credit to the Armed Forces and they are saving lives that would previously have been lost.
"But we are not simply concerned with survival, we must do our very best to give those who have been wounded on operations a continuity of high quality care, including rehabilitation. The work of defence and national health medical staff at Selly Oak, Headley Court, and other facilities is vital to the care of our wounded, and the standard of this care has rightly been highly praised.
"We take very seriously the possibility that some Service personnel might develop a mental illness as a result of service and we are committed to providing them with high standards of care, just as we do for those who are physically injured. Recent measures include the deployment of mental health professionals on operations, to link with the provision of out-patient mental health care in the military community at the patient's home base. In-patient care, for the small number of patients for whom this is needed, is provided in a number of psychiatric units around the UK through the Priory Group. This is so that the majority of these patients can be treated much closer to their homes or parent units than when we ran our own in-patient facility at a single UK location."
"Every day our doctors, nurses and other medics give dedicated care to their patients, some times in the most arduous of circumstances on deployed operations. They are all a credit to the Armed Forces and they are saving lives that would previously have been lost."
Under Secretary of State for Defence, Derek Twigg
The MOD has also worked with other departments to improve the care that veterans receive, including for mental disorders. In November last year, Ministers announced the expansion of NHS priority treatment to veterans, when their doctor believes their injuries or ill-health are a result of their service. NHS waiting times are at an all-time low but priority treatment could still be significant for a small number of veterans. Clinicians will determine the allocation of priority treatment based on clinical need.
As well as commending the standard of care delivered to Service personnel, the HCDC has also looked at the wider delivery of healthcare to veterans and Service Families. The first ever cross-Government strategy for supporting our Service personnel, their families and veterans has already been commissioned and will be published later this year. Its work will also address many of the major issues raised by the HCDC.
The MOD echoes the HCDC's condemnation of the irresponsible reporting of the treatment provided to our injured Service personnel at the University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust.
The MOD will, along with other Ministries, consider the report in detail and provide Parliament with a response to all of the report's recommendations.