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Written question asked by Lady Hermon (Ulster Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 13 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 March 2007. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Tuesday, 27 March 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Medical Treatment

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have received medical treatment in military hospitals in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan since the invasion of the country concerned; and how many members of the armed forces serving in each country (i) were returned to the UK for medical treatment and (ii) had their medical treatment carried out in another country, broken down by country, over the same period.
Answer

The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq from March 2003 and Afghanistan since January 2006. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website:"http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets"Data on the destination of aeromedical evacuations is held centrally only when it involved moving a patient out of the region since 1 January 2006. It does not, for example, include shorter evacuations such as those to the US medical facility at Bald in Iraq or from Afghanistan to Seeb in Oman. A number of personnel from both theatres are evacuated to the hospital at the Ramstein US airbase in Germany. These personnel are normally those who have been treated in US hospitals in theatre and are being medically evacuated through US channels, or those for whom domestically it is better to be treated in Germany (for example if they are normally stationed there).IraqBetween March 2003 and 31 December 2005 the total number of UK military and civilian personnel who were treated at the Shaibah "Role 3" field hospital in Iraq was 6,609. Of these, 226 were categorised as wounded in action, including as a result of hostile action, and 6,383 were categorised as suffering from disease or non-battle injuries.Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005 some 4,000 military and civilian personnel (including a small number of Iraqis) were medically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.On 1 January 2006 improved casualty reporting processes were implemented. Between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2007:"775 UK military personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason; of these:""723 service personnel were evacuated to the UK.""52 service personnel were evacuated to Ramstein in Germany.""142 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals and categorised as wounded in action.""1,353 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals for disease or non-battle injuries."AfghanistanFor the period between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2007:"312 UK military personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan on medical grounds, whatever the reason; of these:""299 service personnel were evacuated to the UK.""13 service personnel were evacuated to Ramstein in Germany.""108 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals and categorised as wounded in action.""206 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK field hospitals for disease or non-battle injuries."A figure for those evacuated or admitted to hospital prior to these dates is not centrally available. The Defence Analytical Service Agency is currently reviewing available historic aeromedical data and these will be published on the website once the process is complete.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
458 c1438-9W; 128128
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Iraq Peacekeeping operations Afghanistan
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk