§ Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for Defence which type of fits are thought not to be attributable to military service following head injuries; how many of such cases were discharged in each of the last five years for which this information is available; and how many of these people had entered the RAF with an A1 medical record during the same period.
§ 87 Mr. WellbelovedEpileptic fits can be broadly classified as either idiopathic, which are of no known organic origin, or symptomatic. The second group consists of post-traumatic fits which occur after injuries have been sustained and non-traumatic fits which have a variety of causes. So far as can be established, the numbers of Service personnel who were discharged after diagnosis of idiopathic or non-traumatic epilepsy during the years 1972 to 1976 inclusive were as follows:
197219731974 75 19751976
The medical category of A1, as employed by the RAF, applies only to aircrew. It is not the RAF's policy to admit recruits who have a known previous history of fits.