http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/05/nmod05.xml
MoD pays NHS to speed up care of troops
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent and Nick Britten
(Filed: 05/10/2006)
The Ministry of Defence is paying the NHS to accelerate injured servicemen's access to surgeons, the military's head of health said yesterday.
As the ministry fends off growing criticism from military chiefs and charities over the treatment of soldiers wounded on operations, it can be revealed that negotiations are being held with six NHS health trusts to speed up care of troops.
The news has emerged after The Daily Telegraph's report that 5,000 personnel in the Armed Forces are failing to get priority treatment, leading to delays in them getting back to front-line duty.
advertisementAir Cdre Paul Evans, director of health care for the MoD, said that following negotiations with the NHS the wounded would now be seen within four weeks by a consultant and would have only a six-week wait for surgery. The MoD paid an "accelerated access fee" that was individually negotiated and gave troops access to expert surgeons.
The negotiating system had been in place since Christmas, he added, but he refused to discuss the amount the NHS charged for the preferential access.
It has also emerged that plans to build a £200 million military medical centre of excellence to replace the controversial Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham have been scrapped by the MoD after being deemed too costly.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that the MoD has instead earmarked a cheaper alternative split over three sites 20 miles apart.
Officials spent two years drawing up plans for a centre to be built on the existing site of Selly Oak hospital, Birmingham, which currently houses the RCDM but which is earmarked for demolition following the opening of a new £559 million "super hospital" in the south of the city in 2011.
The centre would have brought together the headquarters of the military's medical training agencies, currently located around the country. It was to have boasted state of the art training, mess and sporting facilities and to have contained military-only wards, thus negating the need for placing injured servicemen in general NHS wards.
However, it was deemed too costly and under current proposals, recently sent out by the MoD, officials are carrying out an assessment to keep medical practices on two sites in Birmingham and move accommodation for all doctors, nurses and support staff to Whittington barracks in Lichfield, home of the Staffordshire regiments.
It said several sites were looked at but "none of the other sites reviewed would meet the requirement so well and so cost-effectively as Lichfield".
One senior officer who was involved in drawing up the proposals for the new centre of excellence said: "It was shown to be value for money over 25 years but the whole thing came to a very abrupt halt after two years of investigation.
"We are watching an unprecedented expansion of the NHS and at the same time struggling to recruit and retain medical experts in the military. In this sort of situation, we needed to invest in the medical services and there was no better way to do it.
"Putting people an hour away by bus is really demotivating and does not make economic sense. It also does not put the military medical services up there as something to aspire to, as the centre of excellence would have.
"It was affordable but it comes down to whether the Government is giving the military enough money."
Peter Viggers, the MP for Gosport, where the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency and the 33 Field Hospital — which will be moved to Lichfield — are based, said: "There has been a lot of disquiet about this and morale is very low.
"A huge amount of money is being spent putting people up in bed and breakfasts and in hostels, which is not ideal for anyone. We are having great difficulty in retaining doctors who, in their late 30s and with a stable home and family, can earn more money in the civilian sector. Scrapping plans for a new centre of excellence sends out all the wrong messages."
Air Cdre Evans said security issues "of grave concern" had now been addressed at Selly Oak, after this newspaper reported that an injured paratrooper had been confronted by a man who accused him of "killing our Muslim brothers".
The officer also admitted that welfare and support care "could be improved" and steps were being taken to ensure this.
Since the Iraq invasion three years ago rehabilitation of the injured had been developed with 13 regional centres, manned by specialist GPs and advance physiotherapists, used to assess and treat troops.
The centres, spread across the country and with two in Germany, will also give soldiers access to an MRI scan within 10 days.
