HC Deb 12 March 2003 vol 401 cc274-5W
Mr. Keetch

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what shortfalls obtain against the establishment targets for field hospitals for(a) medical officers and (b) support staff; and if he will make a statement. [97770]

Dr. Moonie

When not deployed on operations regular field hospitals exist with a basic unit establishment of 105 personnel. This enables the unit to function on an administrative and training basis only. For shortfalls against the peacetime establishment, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2003,Official Report, column 326W to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin).

When the decision is taken to deploy a field hospital on operations it is then moved onto a war fighting establishment by augmenting staff from the Regular Army and Reserve Forces, as appropriate. A decision on the exact level of establishment required is operation specific, and is dependent on the intended role of the unit, and the number of beds it is expected to provide. As such, there is no standard or target.

Field Hospitals are therefore deployed, in terms of both medical officers and support staff, at full strength.