§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2002,Official Report, column 597W, on medical treatment, on what date the Army Training and Recruitment Agency secondary health 326W care initiative commenced and with what budget; by what criteria personnel are treated under the scheme; how many personnel in (a) the Army, (b) the Navy and (c) the RAF have been treated under the initiative and at what cost to his Department in each month since commencement; which health care providers have been used under the scheme; and if he will make a statement. [65569]
§ Mr. IngramThe Army Training and Recruiting Agency's (ATRA) secondary health care initiative was formally introduced on 1 April 2001 and the Budgetary sum allocated for the financial year 2001–02 was £1.3 million. Personnel eligible for treatment under the scheme are ATRA trainers or trainees who are referred by their unit general practitioner for investigation, opinion and/or treatment for a condition which is preventing them from continuing with their employment/training. Personnel are referred only when waiting lists at the local Ministry of Defence hospital unit or NHS hospital are deemed excessive. The vast majority of these are Army personnel; a small number of RN and RAF personnel might have been included who were posted to ATRA units, either as trainers or trainees, but these cannot be readily identified. Records held do not allow for numbers treated per month to be easily identified, as an individual may well be treated over a period and therefore feature in more than one month's figures. The costs per month since inception are as follows:
Month Numbers treated Cost (£) April 2001 — 35,035 May 2001 — 61,201 June 2001 — 88,289 July 2001 — 77,286 August 2001 — 97,995 September 2001 — 93,581 October 2001 — 129,601 November 2001 — 79,544 December 2001 — 100,397 January 2002 — 136,503 February 2002 — 159,605 March 2002 — 150,262 Total financial year 2001–02 1,351 1,209,299 April 2002 — 169,047 May 2002 — 129,788 June 20021 — 42,701 Total financial year 2002–031 435 341,435 1To 15 June The healthcare providers utilised under this scheme have been:
- BMI
- BUPA
- Nuffield Trust
- Caprio
- Independent
- NHS.
The initiative has proved successful in reducing the average waiting time for both consultation and treatment, enabling trainers and trainees to return to work or training more quickly. The scheme is kept under constant review.