§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on the Gulf Veterans Medical Assessment Programme; and if he will make a statement. [122928]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Gulf Veterans Medical Assessment Programme (GVMAP) was established in 1993 to provide as full a diagnosis as possible to UK veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict who are concerned about their health. The GVMAP continues to see new patients and to date 2,991 veterans have been seen. GVMAP offer patients an appointment within four to six weeks of referral.
A management audit of the GVMAP was undertaken by King's Fund Health Quality Service in late 1998. This was concerned with all aspects of patient care and the service provided. The auditors were impressed with the organisation of the GVMAP and the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff to the provision of a high quality service. However, the auditors made a number of specific recommendations for improving the service. In January the Gulf Veterans Illnesses Unit published a report detailing the progress made by GVMAP in implementing the auditors' recommendations. The Royal College of Pathologists are in the process of reporting on the clinical procedures used at the GVMAP.
A paper describing the clinical findings from the first 1,000 patients examined at the GVMAP was published in the British Medical Journal in January 1999. A follow-up paper on the next 1,000 patients will be submitted for publication shortly.
322WIn its continuing support of research into Gulf veterans illnesses, the GVMAP is providing anonymised medical data relating to UK Gulf veterans, for a study by King's College, London on war syndromes in British and American veterans of wars from 1900.