Iraq: Military Casualties (Hansard, 20 January 2005)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)
My Lords, one such visit has been made. This was made by the Secretary of State for Defence in April 2003, when he visited patients at Selly Oak Hospital.

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords, is it not extraordinary that the 790 casualties who have suffered serious enough injury to be evacuated from Iraq to the United Kingdom have had only that one visit? Where has the Prime Minister been, and why are the Government so keen to keep dark the number of casualties, which has now been revealed by way of the Freedom of Information Act? Is the Minister aware that Ministers in the other place answer questions about casualties either by saying that they will write to the honourable Member, which more or less buries the question, or by listing casualties with ordinary sickness, which confuses the issue?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, it is completely untrue that the information about casualties came out as a result of the Freedom of Information Act. The Secretary of State for Defence gave the figures in an oral Answer, as I understand it, on 10 January in another place. It is untrue also to say that we have not answered questions about that, but many casualties or people who are injured do not want their details given out. Therefore, we are not proactive about it, but, when asked, we certainly reply.
For Ministers, the priorities have been to safeguard our Armed Forces as well as we possibly can and to ensure that all those who are injured are treated as well and as expeditiously as possible. That is what we have done. If the noble Lord's implication is that Ministers do not care, I find that both false and insulting. Ministers from across the Government have been involved. Many have visited Iraq. Meetings with those who have served in Iraq take place frequently and regularly. By way of example, I do not know if the noble Lord was able to attend the memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral in late 2003. A reception was held afterwards at which many of those who had served in Iraq, including some who had been injured, were present. They have regular contact with Ministers. I am a little surprised that the noble Lord, who has a most distinguished record as a Minister in the relevant departments, should see fit to make such superficial and petty political points.

§ Lord Redesdale
My Lords, I went to the service which the Minister mentioned. Unfortunately, like many others, I was not asked to the reception afterwards so I feel that I could not add benefit to that point. Will a Minister visit the combat stress unit, which deals with post-traumatic stress disorder? If those who are wounded seem to be the forgotten victims of Iraq, those who suffer from the mental anxiety of post-combat stress disorder are often completely neglected.

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, as I think the noble Lord will know, the Birmingham centre is not responsible for 879 patients with purely psychiatric illnesses. However, all those at the centre are fully trained to assess the risk of potential psychiatric problems that result from the trauma of injuries. I will take back his request.

§ Lord Tomlinson
My Lords, is it not axiomatic that all Members of the House value the contribution that is made by our armed services and value the provision that is made for those who are unfortunate enough to need it at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham? Can I ask my noble friend to explain to us the provision that is made at Birmingham not merely for medical treatment but for the welfare needs of members of our Armed Forces?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I can help my noble friend on that matter. Welfare support is provided directly to military patients at the centre by the Defence Medical Welfare Service team, the padre and the patient administration staff. Patients are visited once a day. Importantly, welfare officers from units are also involved. We know that there is a close link between the regimental welfare officers and all patients in hospital.

§ Lord Astor of Hever
My Lords, if Ministers want to avoid the accusations that my noble friend has rightly made, it would be nice to see them getting out and about and visiting a few more injured service men. How many letters to families of those killed in Iraq and to service men and women wounded there have defence Ministers personally signed?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I have to say that I think that that is a cheap shot from the noble Lord today, in the circumstances. Given all the questions that could be asked in the House about Iraq, a question about how many Ministers have visited a hospital at a particular time seems to me to be rather unnecessary.
I do not know how many letters have been sent, but if the hint or suggestion is that somehow Ministers do not care about such matters, it would be fairer if the main opposition party said so. The fact is that all Ministers have taken great care to take great interest in all that has happened in Iraq. These complaints are petty and unnecessary. We should look at the main issues in Iraq at present and concentrate on them.

§ Lord Hughes of Woodside
My Lords, is it not the case that, in some quarters of the country—not in your Lordships' House, of course—there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy about such allegations? In fact, if Ministers, especially the Prime Minister, were seen traipsing every day to see those involved in Iraq, they would be accused of ambulance chasing and gross misbehaviour.

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, what soldiers want is to get better and get home. They want their friends and family around them. Very few patients stay in the Birmingham centre for long. A number of them are out-patients who go there and go home the same day. 880 The patients who are there want welfare services from their unit. The last thing that patients or the hospital authorities and hard-working doctors and nurses want is a host of ministerial visits, with all the fuss and palaver that go with them.

§ Lord Rotherwick
My Lords, could I clarify that? Are Ministers not planning any future visits to the wounded from Iraq, or are there planned visits?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, as I understand it, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my honourable friend Mr Ivor Caplin, intends to visit the Birmingham centre in the near future. That visit has been planned for some time.

§ Lord Garden
My Lords, I tried last year to get answers from the Minister by way of Written Questions about the details of those injured in Iraq. He was unable to provide separate numbers for those injured in combat and those "casevaced" for other reasons. Will the Ministry of Defence review its procedures, so that we can know who is injured and people such as MPs can visit their constituents? There is a problem here, but not a party political one.

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, 790 is the figure that has been given for those who have gone to the centre. I must make it clear that they have not all been injured in combat. They have come back from Iraq either injured in combat or injured in road traffic accidents or accidents of another kind, even accidents while playing sport. They are brought back to the centre, if they have physical injuries, and, as I say, many of them are treated as out-patients and go home. If there is a problem—the noble Lord believes that there is—I will look into it.