Defence Medical Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, whether he has introduced a whole force plan that identifies workforce requirements, incentivisation, and measures to return non-deployable personnel to fighting fitness as quickly as possible as part of an enduring approach agreed with the NHS by March 2026, as outlined in Recommendation 58.
Answered by Ministry of Defence
The Strategic Defence Review recognised the need to rebuild both medical capacity and capability within Defence to ensure our Armed Forces remain fighting fit in peacetime and are prepared to meet operational demands when at war. Future workforce requirements will be informed by ongoing Defence workforce planning.
On returning medically non-deployable personnel to fighting fitness, a number of initiatives have been introduced, including new clinical pathways, to expedite healthcare for Armed Forces personnel.
Following successful pilots, the Chief of Air Staff’s Fighting Fit Fund and the 1st Sea Lord’s Fighting Fit Fund will expedite secondary healthcare for RAF and Navy personnel with private healthcare providers. A Chief of the General Staff’s Fighting Fit Fund for Army personnel is being progressed.
Further, the Department is working closely with the NHS to address some of the longest wait times. The NHS Further Faster Armed Forces programme has focused on meeting the 18-week target waiting times for Ear Nose and Throat, and Trauma and Orthopaedic appointments for Armed Forces personnel. The Royal Centre of Defence Medicine, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is undertaking increased numbers of Orthopaedic or General Surgery procedures through the Military Theatre List.
All Defence GPs have been updated to ensure awareness of the referral pathways available to expedite the treatment of their patients, – and ultimately return our personnel to fighting fitness.
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