Defence Medical Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, what progress has he made in investing in medical evacuation and medical stockpiles at a scale that matches military commitments and deployments, as well as critical capabilities like counter‑chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear equipment, as outlined in Recommendation 58.
Answered by Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has allocated up to £50M through the Defence Investment Plan over four years, focused on delivering priority medical capability enhancements:
- Tactical Combat Casualty Care. £20m in kits for combat personnel based on the latest research on equipment to save lives on the battlefield.
- Forward Blood Products: £10m to develop or procure dried blood products.
- Tranexamic Acid (TXA): £10m to provide a more effective way to combat blood loss and save lives.
- Field Hospital Equipment: £10m to support combat operations at scale.
Contingency plans for maintaining the supply of medical products are under ongoing review by the Cabinet Office through their National Capabilities Assessment. This tests the Government’s response to scenarios on the National Risk Register, including disruption to medical supply chains; increasing resilience of UK medicines supply chains remains a priority for the Government.
The UK is also working with allies, through the NATO Medical Action Plan to address priority challenges including medical logistics, recognising the need to diversify suppliers, improve inventory resilience, and ensure critical materials are available when and where they are needed.
It is MOD policy not to comment on Counter-Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear capabilities. Disclosure of such detail could undermine operational and national security.
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