§ Lord BachMy honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
As part of the Ministry of Defence strategy to modernise and improve defence mental health services, I can announce today that the Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to King's College London, widely recognised as a leader in this field, to establish, in partnership with Defence Medical Services, a Department of Defence Mental Health.
6WSThis department, which will come under the auspices of the Royal College of Defence Medicine, will be based in London as part of the King's College Centre for Military Health Research. It will have a small permanent staff, consisting of a senior lecturer in Military Health Studies, who will be appointed by King's, and a clinical senior lecturer and nurse senior lecturer, who will be Defence Medical Services staff. Administrative support and accommodation will be provided by King's.
This department will become a centre of excellence for the study of service mental health conditions, enabling us to develop a better understanding of their causes, treatment and prevention. It will greatly enhance the level of training available to our mental health specialists, and provide invaluable support to our newly enhanced community-based teams of mental health specialists.