Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (Hansard, 31 March 2003)

§ Lord Bach

In line with the recommendation of the Medical Quinquennial Review (MQR) which we announced on 11 April 2002, the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (DMETA) will be established on 11 April 2003. We will arrange for copies 97WA of the new agency's framework document, corporate plan and key targets for 2003–04 to be placed in the Library of both Houses. The chief executive for DMETA will be Rear Admiral Peter Kidner.

On formation, the new agency will subsume the existing Defence Medical Training Organisation (DMTO). The Defence Secondary Care Agency (DSCA) will be disestablished on 31 March 2003, with its responsibilty for training and placement of service medical personnel transferring to DMETA. Responsibility for commissioning secondary care for service personnel will transfer to a new healthcare directorate within the Defence Medical Services Department (DMSD), formerly the Surgeon General's Department. The overseas hospitals in Cyprus and Gibraltar will transfer to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) by 1 April 2005, but during the interim period DMSD will have responsibility.

DM ETA will make available nominated secondary care personnel for deployments and exercises and deliver appropriate medical, dental and military training and education to specified standards to meet the operational requirement. It will bring together defence medical education and training, including the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM), the Defence Deanery, the five Ministry of Defence Hospital Units and the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Headley Court.

Key targets have been set for 2003–04 to provide a balanced, challenging but achievable package covering the full range of DM ET A's areas of business. These are:

DEFENCE MEDICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AGENCY—KEY TARGETS FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2003–04

Key Target 1—Deployable Personnel

To meet 100 per cent of the Commander in Chiefs' requirement for secondary care personnel for operational deployments, major exercises and collective training.

Key Target 2—Training Success (Quality and Quantity)

(a) Academic. To achieve an overall academic success rate of 95 per cent across all training in the customer-approved annual agreed training requirement, based upon those students that successfully complete the required pre-course assessment where appropriate.
(b) Military. Ensure that 80 per cent of all DMETA personnel, whose medical category permits, achieve their service's annual mandatory individual military training.

Key Target 3—Academic Success (Timeliness)

To maintain the index of average time taken for trainees to pass through to the end of Phase II training at less than 1.05.

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Key Target 4—Defence Systems Approach to Training

Ensure the application of Defence Systems Approach to Training (DSAT) to a minimum of 65 per cent of DM ETA course within financial year 2003–04 and thereafter achieve a year on year improvement of 15 per cent until a steady state of at least 95 per cent is achieved.

Key Target 5—Efficiency

Ensure the efficient rationalisation and usage of the current DMETA estate, reducing the agreed balance sheet value of the estate as at 1 April 2003 by at least 50 per cent by 2010, thereby reducing the cost of training.

DEFENCE DENTAL AGENCY (DDA)

In respect of the Defence Dental Agency, the MQR recommended that it should continue in its present form except that it would lose some training functions to the new DMETA. It also recommended that the DDA should develop more challenging targets, including a new system of dental risk (DR) categorisation. This has now been achieved and the key targets for the DDA for 2003–04 are as follows:

DEFENCE DENTAL AGENCY—KEY TARGETS FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2003–04

Key Target 1—The Operational Requirement

To meet 100 per cent of the Commander in Chiefs' requirements for DDA personnel for operational deployments, major exercises and collective training.

Key Target 2—Dental Risk

To achieve 90 per cent of all service personnel in dental risk categories A and B by 31 March 2004.

Key Target 3—Treatment Needs

To reduce the treatment need index for each service to the following: RN at or below 400; Army at or below 600; RAF at or below 330 by 31 March 2004.

Key Target 4—Military Training

To ensure that 80 per cent of all DDA personnel, whose medical category permits, achieve their service's annual individual, mandatory, military training.