§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
What action has been taken and what priority has been given to upgrade medically 2,688 Royal Navy personnel, 10,602 Army personnel and 3,833 Royal Air Force personnel who were listed as downgraded in October 2002. [HL1270]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)Numbers of medically downgraded personnel include those who are permanently medically downgraded as well as those who are pregnant or have recently given birth. Of the just over 17,000 personnel who were medically downgraded in October 2002, more than 40 per cent would have been deployable on military operations albeit not at the front line. Priority for medical treatment is normally based on clinical need. However, mechanisms also exist for service patients to be fast-tracked in order to return them to operational duty more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. Fast-track diagnosis and treatment are undertaken either through Ministry of Defence hospital units or through private healthcare providers. Moreover, rehabilitation facilities at unit and regional level are being improved as part of the work to reduce the number of personnel unfit through injury.