§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health professionals have been deployed to the Gulf; and from which NHS hospital trusts. [106635]
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§ Mr. HuttonAs at 31 March 2003, 713 regular medical personnel serving in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) hospital units have been deployed to the Gulf region in support of military action against Iraq. These MOD hospital units are located within National Health Service hospitals at Portsmouth, Plymouth, South Tees, Frimley Park and Peterborough as well as the Royal College for Defence Medicine at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust. In addition, some 760 medical reservists, some of whom would be NHS staff, had also been similarly deployed.
Deployments from the MOD hospital units are as follows:
MOD Hospitals Number Royal Hospital Haslar (Portsmouth Hospitals) 273 Peterborough MDHU 69 Derriford MDHU (Plymouth Hospitals) 102 Northallerton MDHU (South Tees) 91 Frimley Park MDHU 114 Royal College for Defence Medicine: (University Hospital, Birmingham) 64 Total 713 The Department is in the process of collating figures for reservists, including health professionals working in NHS trusts who have deployed to the Gulf as part of our ongoing work with MOD to ensure that the impact on the NHS of these deployments is kept to a minimum.