§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many medical records have been requested by armed services personnel who served in the Gulf War; how many have been found; whether all requests for medical record information have been granted; and if he will make a statement; [20266]
(2) if he will make a statement on the management of medical records from the Gulf War and their accuracy. [20265]
§ Dr. MoonieInformation is not readily available that would enable the Ministry of Defence to identify, from the large number of requests for medical records received, how many were in respect of individuals who served in the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and, of those, in how many cases medical records were available. However, in view of the Government's undertaking to be as informative and thorough as possible in addressing issues of concern to Gulf veterans, I have asked that the information requested be researched. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible placing a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. The policy of the MOD for some years has been that no medical records should be withheld except where legislation so requires.
In October 2001, MOD's Gulf Veterans Illnesses Unit updated and re-issued a paper previously produced in April 1999 entitled "Medical Records in the Gulf'. This is available on MOD's website at: www.gulfwar.mod.uk. I have arranged for a copy of this paper to be placed in the Library of the House. The paper describes 345W arrangements for medical record keeping during the Gulf conflict; discusses a number of reasons why records that were kept may not have been complete, and provides guidance to Gulf veterans on how to obtain their service medical records.