§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what co-operation there is between private hospitals and Army medical services in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district.
§ Mr. LeeThere are no formal arrangements between private hospitals and the army medical services in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas. Occasionally service patients are referred to private hospitals for investigations using equipment which is not readily available elsewhere.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what categories of medical services are currently provided by civilians for Army personnel in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian personnel are employed in ancillary and administrative roles in the provision of medical services to the Army in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district.
§ Mr. LeeThere are currently 256 civilian personnel employed in ancillary and administrative roles in the provision of defence medical services in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what Army medical centres there are in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district;
(2) what medical services are provided by Army medical centres in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district.
§ Mr. LeeIn these areas there is a medical reception station at RMA Sandhurst and nine unit medical centres, all of which provide primary medical care of service personnel; examples are routine medical procedures, immunological procedures, routine needs and examinations etc., medical cover for sporting events and military exercises. The Cambridge military hospital, Aldershot provides a full range of secondary medical care.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what co-operation there is between National Health Service and Army medical services in the Frimley, Aldershot and Camberley areas of the south-east district.
§ Mr. LeeThe Cambridge military hospital accepts for treatment a large number of civilians from the Aldershot, Farnham, Farnborough and Fleet areas. There is also some liaison with Frimley Park hospital regarding paediatrics, medical surgery, dermatology, psychiatric and psychological cases.
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§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what further consideration he has given to the use by his Department of National Health Service resources and services.
§ Mr. LeeThe primary care of service men is almost always provided by the defence medical services, and this arrangement will continue.
There is considerable co-operation between service hospitals and the NHS at local level and there is no intention to make this interchange the subject of direct central control.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what further consideration he has given to the use by his Department of private sector medical resources and services.
§ Mr. LeeService doctors and other staff are required for war and they must be trained professionally and militarily for their war role. The care of service patients in peace is a fundamental element of that training and cannot be contracted out to the private sector. It is not, therefore, practical for private sector medical services to play a part in the medical support of the armed services except in a very limited way, such as providing occasional facilities for investigations not otherwise available in service hospitals or the NHS. However, doctors, nurses and other medical personnel employed in the private sector are more than welcome to apply to join the TA or other reserve formations.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the report of the defence medical services which was recently submitted to him by Sir Henry Yellowlees;
(2) what were the main findings and recommendations of the report on defence medical services which was recently submitted to him by Sir Henry Yellowlees.
§ Mr. LeeA statement on the first part of Sir Henry Yellowlees' report is provided in the statement on the Defence Estimates 1985 Part 1 paragraph 528. Further to that, details of the recommendations in the second part and the current position, are contained in the House of Commons Defence Committee's report on commitments and resources and Defence Estimates 1985–86 Volume III dated 10 June 1985. It is not appropriate to place a copy of Sir Henry Yellowlees' report in the Library.