Defence
The uniformed medical and dental personnel from all three Services are known collectively as the Defence Medical Services (DMS). The DMS are grouped under the Headquarters Surgeon General (HQ SG), Joint Medical Command (JMC), Defence Dental Services (DDS) and the three single Service medical organisations.
Medical, dental and related support services are delivered to armed forces personnel by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the NHS, charities and welfare organisations.
Overview
The primary role of the DMS is to ensure that service personnel are ready and medically fit to go where they are required in the UK and throughout the world – generally referred to as being ‘fit for task’.
The DMS encompass the entire medical, dental, nursing, allied health professionals, paramedical and support personnel. It is staffed by around 7,000 regular uniformed medical personnel and provides healthcare to 196,000 servicemen and women.
Personnel from all three services, regulars and reservists, work alongside civil servants and other supporting units providing healthcare to service personnel serving in the UK, abroad, those at sea, and in some circumstances family dependants of service personnel and entitled civilians. It also provides some aspects of healthcare to other countries’ personnel overseas, in both permanent military bases and in areas of conflict.
The range of services provided by the DMS includes primary healthcare, dental care, hospital care, rehabilitation, occupational medicine, community mental healthcare and specialist medical care. It also provides healthcare in a range of facilities, including medical and dental centres, regional rehabilitation units and in field hospitals.
The DMS has 15 regional rehabilitation units (RRUs) across the UK and Germany, 5 Ministry of Defence hospital units (MDHUs) embedded into NHS acute trusts, the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) in Birmingham, and 15 military-run Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) in the UK with 5 DCMHs at the major permanent overseas bases.
The Surgeon General (SG) is the 3* professional head of the DMS and the Process Owner for end to end Defence healthcare and medical operational capability. He is accountable to the Defence Board, reporting routinely through the Defence Operating Board and Service Personnel Board, both of which he attends as required.
The SG is responsible for:
- Defining the boundaries and processes, organisational structures and composition of forces, and the standards and quality needed, to deliver advice on health policy, healthcare and medical operational capability in consultation with top level budget holders
- Setting the overall direction on all clinical matters relating to the practice of medicine within the military
- Setting and auditing the professional performance of all medical personnel
- Setting clinical and medical policies and standards, and auditing compliance by military organisations across Defence
- Developing the science of military medicine to develop approaches and treatments that will best counter threats to the health and well being of Service personnel
- Providing deployable medical operational capability
- Building and maintaining the medical infrastructure and cadre of people
- Delivering a comprehensive healthcare system that provides the appropriate timely healthcare to Service (and other entitled) personnel
- Ensuring coherence of health plans between Defence and the NHS
- Chairing the Defence Medical Services Board, the forum for providing strategic direction and guidance to the DMS
The current SG is
Surgeon Vice Admiral Philip Raffaelli.
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