§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the involvement of the NHS with Civil Contingency Reaction Forces. [121347]
§ Mr. Hutton14 regional Civil Contingencies Reaction Forces (CCRFs), 500 strong and drawn from the Armed Forces Reserve, are currently being formed by the Ministry of Defence. Formation of these units was an important conclusion of the work undertaken last year on "A New Chapter of the Strategic Defence Review" (cm 5566, dated July 2002). The CCRFs are expected to be fully ready by the end of this year.
The Department of Health, along with many other Departments and agencies, worked with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on the development of the New Chapter. Once formed, the CCRFs could be made available to provide support to the national health service, during an emergency, under normal crisis management arrangements. They would remain under military command, but would work under the supervision of the police and other civil agencies, including, if appropriate, Department of Health and NHS officials.
The CCRFs will be able to apply general military skills in response to a crisis. Their role would vary according to the nature of the emergency, but might include, for example, management of displaced persons, limited first aid, temporary accommodation management and manning of water and feeding points. To ensure that the NHS response to a crisis is not adversely affected by the mobilisation of the MOD's response, the MOD has adopted a policy of not recruiting doctors, nurses, and paramedics, who are part of the Armed Forces Reserve, into the CCRFs.