§ Mr. Keith SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Defence Medical Services are available for operational duty within the United Kingdom. [82157]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 21 November 2003]As of July 2002, there were 6,489 regular personnel in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) excluding student nurses and other new entry trainees. Of these, at any one time some will be unavailable for operational duty within the United Kingdom as a result of medical downgrading. As of November 2002, the latest date for which figures are available, 131 were unavailable for such duty as a result of medical downgrading. In practice, the number of DMS personnel available for operational duty in the United Kingdom will depend on other commitments including deployment on overseas operations, training and exercises, and retained tasks.