§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future accommodation of nursing staff accommodated at(a) Keogh Barracks, Aldershot and (b) Fort Blockhouse, Gosport. [153886]
§ Mr. CaplinThere are no nursing staff at Keogh barracks.
Nursing staff accommodated at Fort Blockhouse comprise two groups—Nursing staff employed in the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU) Portsmouth and student military nurses studying at the University of Portsmouth.
On MOD's withdrawal from the management of the Royal Hospital Haslar by 31 March 2007, future options for the accommodation of MDHU nursing staff will be developed in line with progress on the construction of the new Queen Alexandra's Hospital, Cosham.
Military nurse education has been transferred progressively from Portsmouth to Birmingham since September 2001. The MOD is considering a number of options for the future provision of Service accommodation at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.
§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the(a) establishment and (b) current strength is of each medical specialty in the Defence Medical Services. [153883]
§ Mr. CaplinAs at 1 October 2003, the latest period for which figures are available, the Defence Medical Services had a trained strength of 414 doctors, against an establishment of 655. These figures, broken down by specialty, are as follows:1634W
Specialty Establishment Trained strength Secondary care consultants Anaesthetics 55 33 General Physicians 26 22 Dermatology 3 3 Paediatrics 2 2 Genito Urinary Medicine 2 1 General Surgery 35 23 Urology 4 3 Orthopaedic Surgery 25 17 Burns and Plastics 5 4 Accident and Emergency 11 5 Psychiatry 23 11 Ophthalmic Surgery 3 3 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 11 7 ORL 5 3 Rheumatology and Rehabilitation 7 6 Radiology 11 8 Pathology 9 0 Haematology 1 2 Histopatholoy 0 4 Microbiology 2 3 Aviation Medicine 6 1 Sub Total (a) 246 161 Primary care consultants and GPs GD (Occupational Medicine 25 29 Diving 4 2 Radiation 5 5 Aviation (Royal Navy and Army) 6 12 GD (Public Health) 5 8 General Practice 364 197 Sub Total (b) 409 253 Total (a+b) 655 414 Note:
The establishment is the list of funded clinical posts/appointments as of October 2003.
The trained strength represents the number of Consultants and GMPs in each specialty as at 1 October 2003.
In addition to the clinical posts, there are an additional 104 command and staff posts that are currently required to be filled by clinical personnel from the trained strength.