HC Deb 31 October 2002 vol 391 cc892-3W
Jon Trickett

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many(a) nurses, (b) GPs, (c) medical consultants and (d) other health care professionals working for the NHS are subject to military call-up as reservists in the event of military action. [74650]

Dr. Moonie

Although the Ministry of Defence encourages reservists to declare their reserve status to civilian employers, there is no legal requirement to do so unless specified in individual contracts of employment. Reservists are not usually required to provide details of any civilian employment to the Ministry of Defence, until such time as they are called-out. Therefore, no records are available for the number of nurses, GPs, medical consultants and other healthcare professionals that are working in the NHS who are subject to military call-out as reservists.

However, it is possible to provide the number of volunteer reserve nurses, GPs, consultants and other healthcare professionals in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) as at September 2002, and this is outlined in the following table:

Volunteer reserves in the DMS Number
Nurses 1,278
GPs 96
Consultants 103
Other healthcare professionals 2,065

In addition, ex-Regular personnel with a reserve or recall liability can be subject to military call-out.