HC Deb 27 July 2000 vol 354 cc737-9W
Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many beds the Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham will house; what the projected size is of its outpatient throughput; what the size is of its civilian catchment area; and if he will make a statement. [132473]

Dr. Moonie

The Centre for Defence Medicine (CDM) will have academic teaching and clinical roles and will be a centre of excellence for military medicine. It will be relatively small at the beginning and will develop steadily over a number of years. The clinical element will be similar to the arrangements at the Ministry of Defence Hospital Units, with, initially, one ward of 32 beds staffed and managed by Defence Medical Services (DMS) personnel and other DMS personnel integrated throughout the host Trust. DMS personnel will treat both Service and civilian patients. It is envisaged that when the CDM is fully developed its clinical side will have an annual throughput of some 2,700 Service outpatients. The catchment area for civilian patients will be the same as for the host Trust, the University Hospital Birmingham, within the West Midlands region. As a major tertiary care provider, the Trust treats patients from throughout the country and the DMS personnel will also have the opportunity to treat such patients.

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what incentives are(a) in place and (b) being planned to improve the retention rates for fully qualified medical personnel in the Defence Medical Services. [132167]

Dr. Moonie

A number of measures to improve retention in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) have been taken or are under active consideration. The decision to open the Centre for Defence Medicine (CDM) at Birmingham in April 2001 has been enthusiastically welcomed by members of the DMS. It is intended that the CDM will become, in partnership with its host Trust, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, together with the University of Birmingham, a prestigious centre of expertise in military medicine, which we are confident will encourage retention of DMS personnel.

The frequency of operational deployments has been reduced for some specialties in Bosnia by the development of a multinational hospital facility at Sipovo, and work is in hand for a similar facility in Kosovo. Distinction Awards were introduced with effect from 1 April 1999 to bring DMS consultants' pay more closely into line with that of their NHS counterparts. Common terms of service have been agreed for medical and dental officers and pay spines based on these were submitted to the Armed Forces Pay Review Body in January 2000 for approval in principle. Future pension arrangements for medical and dental officers are also under review; a number of options are under consideration but no decisions have yet been taken. Common terms of service have also been agreed for nurses and work is in hand on the delivery of common terms of service for medical technicians. This year we introduced an annual Continuous Attitude Survey among all DMS personnel which will help inform our work on measures to improve retention.

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what(a) medical training facilities, (b) military facilities and (c) field hospitals will be housed in the new Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham. [132549]

Dr. Moonie

The Centre for Defence Medicine is envisaged as being the future professional focus for the Defence Medical Services, with academic, research and teaching roles as well as a significant clinical function. The Centre will be accommodated in a mix of facilities which will, as appropriate, either be shared with our civilian partners or run by military personnel. The latter will include a headquarters, wards staffed and managed by military medical personnel, mess facilities and domestic accommodation. There are no plans to locate any Field Hospitals at the CDM. There is, however a Territorial Army Field Hospital at Birmingham, some of whose members are employed by the host Trust, the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust.