§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the fast-tracking of treatment for service personnel within the NHS; [14279]
(2) how many armed forces personnel have had their treatment fast-tracked within the NHS in the last 12 months. [14280]
§ Dr. MoonieThere are no arrangements for the fast-tracking of clinical treatment for Service personnel within the NHS. However, special arrangements exist, principally with the NHS Trusts hosting our Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHU), for Service personnel to receive expedited out-patient opinions within the NHS. These latter arrangements apply particularly, but not exclusively, to those required for operational deployments.
Our arrangements with the MDHU host Trusts also include financial arrangements to encourage the Trusts to achieve the waiting time targets, both for out-patient and in-patient appointments, set by the Defence Secondary Care Agency.